What Happens In Juarez
by ReverentMuse
Summary: The debriefing scene from Season 3's "Gone Fishin' Job" piqued my curosity of what might have happened in Juarez. Now finished.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Apparently it is customary to put one of these at the beginning of each fanfic. I don't own any part or person of Leverage. I'm just borrowing the characters for entertainment purposes.

Also, as this is my first fanfic in many, many years…. I must beg you not to flay me too badly. I realize that I'm not the greatest writer in the world. As this is not too terribly serious, I feel that I can put the grammar Nazi on vacation during this time. My goal is to entertain, not win a Pulitzer.

* * *

The young woman wiped away a tear as she took another sip from the coffee cup. She was uncomfortable under their scrutinizing eyes. As she relayed her brother's pitiful story a short while earlier, she realized how hopeless it sounded. Eva was still a little surprised the man and woman in front of her had not told her to begin with that is was a pointless rescue. Yet she had to try. "Listen, Señor Ford," she squared her shoulders and looked up into his fatherly eyes, "I know what my brother did was wrong. I wasn't too happy myself when I found out he was working for La Serpiente Cartel. But we were desperate. Our father had just died. Our mother hasn't been able to walk since the accident. We have five other brothers and sisters to feed. We needed money fast and it was the only option available. Pablo doesn't deserve to be sitting in an INS detention facility awaiting deportation. He was born in El Paso, as was our father! The fact that this Javier Espinosa has assumed my brother's identity and let him take the fall is inexcusable.

"I just want my brother back- safe and sound. I know it's a long shot, but I just had to try talking to you. I heard you were the only one who could possibly help."

Throughout her sad tale, Nathan Ford sat attentive, yet non-committal. It was touching. He felt for her and her family, especially the younger children. Yet how in the world could he and his crew pull off a con of this magnitude? Yeah, sure, he had gone up against the Italian mafia a couple of years ago. Not to mention they tricked the Russians into a diamond vault and made the Chinese Triad look like complete buffoons, but this was _the Mexican Cartel_. These guys made the other groups look like college seniors snapping freshman with towels, saying "GOTCHA!"

Nate stole a glance over to Sophie who was sitting next to him. Her deep brown eyes were filled with tears threatening to spill. Crap. They were going to have to accept Miss Lopez's case. He took a longer sip of his coffee, wishing he had some Irish whiskey to put in it. Actually, screw the coffee. Just give him the whiskey.

Sophie cleared her throat to bring him out of his reverie. Eva's eyes were searching his, pleading with him in a non-verbal way, waiting for him to answer. Sophie, also, had her full attention on him. He took another long dreg of his coffee, set the cup down and cleared his throat.

"Miss Lopez, I'm not going to lie or beat around the bush- this will certainly _not_ be an easy case. It will also pose a huge risk for everyone involved, including you and your family. If we do manage to rescue your brother, La Serpiente is going to want answers."

Eva's face lit up as she realized what Nate was telling her. "Gracias, Señor Ford!" she quietly exclaimed, "Gracias."

He held up a hand to stop her praise. "I will accept your case, but I am putting the stipulation out that if, at any time, it becomes too dangerous, I will pull my crew out and we will be unable to rescue your brother. We won't get another shot." Eva smiled, nodded emphatically, and wiped away the now joyous tears that had started to roll.

"Just the simple fact that you will try to get him is enough for me. I cannot thank you enough." She clasped his held up hand in both of hers and hugged it to her cheek. Sophie smiled, pleased that they were going to try to help this poor family who had not been able to catch a break recently.

"Will you be staying in Boston tonight?" Sophie asked the woman gently, her English accent elongating the "o's".

"No. I must be getting back home. My sister, Alicia, is handling everything right now, but I don't want to be away for long. It's a lot for me to handle at 20, let along a sixteen-year-old. My bus leaves in about an hour." She gave a soft smile. She looked tired and sad, the stress of all that happed to her this past year suddenly taking its toll.

"Allow me to drive you to the station, then," Sophie offered. She leaned over and squeezed Nate's arm in appreciation for taking the case.

"Thank you, Señorita Devereux. I'd really appreciate that." Eva slid out of the booth and reached back in to get her battered rucksack. She smiled back at Nate and shook his hand. "Thank you again, Señor Ford." He just nodded and went back to his coffee, again wishing for that whiskey.

Sophie picked up her purse and started to escort Eva to the front door of McRory's Pub. Nate smiled to himself and called out to her as the two women reached the entrance:

"By the way, Sophie, when you get back, _you_ get to tell Eliot."

* * *

Obviously this will be continued soon... That is if there's enough people who want to know what happens in Juarez... Or more importantly how Eliot reacts...


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** First off: Thank you to everyone who favorited and commented to my first chapter. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

I also wish to appologize for the length of the chapters. I write them like how I see them filmed for an episode. If you guys want me to shorten them, let me know. If they're fine the way they are let me know. (There's a nifty little feedback button at the bottom! ;P )

Also, I appologize for this chapter being one of the boring ones. Just like in the series episodes, you have to get through the boring con history and lay out before you can get to the Eliot... er... the action... I meant get to the action. lol

Anyway: ENJOY!

* * *

"_By the way, Sophie, when you get back, you can be the one to tell Eliot."_

* * *

Nate was dead serious when he told Sophie she could be the one to tell the muscle there was going to be no downtime and that the crew was going to at least Texas and potentially across the border to take on La Serpiente Cartel. While she was taking Eva to the bus station, he had gone upstairs to inform Parker and Hardison of the new adventure they had just gotten into.

"Seriously?" Hardison's eyes had bugged out of his head, and he had yet to stop saying that word.

Parker had giggled and singsonged "Not 'it' to tell Eliot this one" and continued to dig in to the pile of fortune cookies in front of her.

"Where_ is_ Eliot anyway?" Nate had finished pouring himself another cup of coffee and sat down at the island counter that now served as their debriefing table.

"Hobble-Along Cassidy is on his way," Hardison popped a gummy frog in his mouth and continued to type away at his laptop, setting up his presentation of the mission. "I'm pretty sure he had just gotten into bed when I called, so he'll be extra crabby when he walks through that door."

However, ten minutes later it was Sophie who walked through it first. "Nate," she whined, "You were kidding when you said I had to be the one to tell Eliot, right?"

"Absolutely not," he answered, "You were the one who talked to Eva Lopez in the first place. You were the one who made the executive decision to get her up to Boston to talk with us. And… and… and… I saw it in your eyes while listening to her. You already wanted to be on the case…. So… so…" Boy, he seemed to stutter a lot when she was around. "So you brought it to my attention, you can be the one to bring it to Eliot's."

"Bring what to my attention?" the Hitter stood holding onto the doorframe. To say that he looked worse for wear was a vast understatement. He limped into the apartment, favoring his right knee. He kept an arm tucked protectively around his ribs. The scratches on his face had started to heal and his left eye used to be black with bruising, but had now faded to a jaundiced yellow.

"Um… uh…" Nate stumbled over the words.

"Uh…." Sophie also couldn't form the words. She took her place at the debriefing table.

"We got another job!" Parker exclaimed, making everyone jump.

"No kidding," Eliot rolled his eyes, "I could figure that much out. Simple job though, right? In, out, and I get to spend the rest of the afternoon out on a lake?"

"Not really," Sophie mumbled to her hands. From across the table there was a rumble from Eliot.

"Where? Who?" The questions were cold, lethal in their own way.

"To at the very least, El Paso, Texas…" Sophie looked sheepishly up to the most dangerous member of the team. He looked about ready to pop. "Possibly to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico against the La Serpiente Cartel."

Now Eliot was never much of a talker, let alone a cusser. He especially didn't like to do the latter in front of women. He preferred to let his fists do his swearing for him. So when he launched into a string of explicatives, it took everyone by surprise and was a testament to how tired he was. Parker had stopped opening another fortune cookie mid-break. Hardison did not realized he had just put a long string of "a's" in the search field. Nate had just raised his cup to his lips when the tirade broke out. Sophie was blushing so profusely, she contrasted badly with the red blouse she was wearing.

When he finally stopped, Eliot was taking short, shallow breaths and had a hand over his ribcage. Parker raised a finger and shook it at him as if he were a naughty child. "Well then," Nate began, finally taking his interrupted sip of coffee, "Shall we begin?"

Hardison nodded, got up, and clicked the remote. Across the room, the six LCD TV screens illuminated with a picture of the Lopez family. Eliot hobbled over to Hardison's vacated seat and sat down, relieved to be off his aching knee. While Hardison launched into the family history ("This is the Lopez family- mom, dad, Pablo Jr., Eva…"), the team's rapt attention was on the information presented in front of them. Parker scooted a fortune cookie over to Eliot, who silently snickered at the peace offering. The beast appeased, her attention returned to the matter at hand.

Hardison, oblivious to the actions of his team behind him, continued with his slide show presentation "… Six months ago, Mom and Dad were struck by an 18-wheeler, leaving Mom paralyzed from the waist down, and Dad, sadly deceased. Pablo, Jr. and Eva returned home from their respective colleges to help take care of Mom and the rest of their siblings. Eva was the lucky one in so far as he job allowed her a transfer nack home. Pablo, however, had been unable to locate work, the economy being what it is…"

"What had he been doing while at college?" Sophie asked.

"Landscape technician, and that was only seasonal work," the Techie answered, "So needless to say, life was extremely difficult trying to feed 8 people on Eva's minimum-wage-retail- job."

Hardison pointed the clicker at the TV screens, wiping them clean of the virtual information shown on them and replacing it with a candid picture of a young Hispanic male wearing a white cowboy hat and his arm draped around a very attractive Latina. All of the con team sat up straighter when they realized how remarkably similar this man looked to young Pablo. Massively similar. Hell, if it weren't for the dark birthmark that extended from his left eyebrow to the middle of his cheek and from the left side of his nose to his ear, the two men could pass for twins. "This is Javier Espinosa," Hardison continued, "The youngest leader of La Serpiente Cartel in its almost fifty year history. Assumed the throne six years ago at the tender age of 20 after his father was gunned down in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. These past six years, business has been very profitable for Mr. Espinosa- drug profits have increased about 300%, arms running another 175%, and has now branched out to shuffling people across the border."

"How has he gotten to be that powerful?" Nate interjected, "Certainly somebody has to have noticed."

"Oh, they have," Hardison nodded to their leader, "Both the Mexican and the United State's governments have their eyes on him. The problem is, he's really good at covering his tracks."

"What about other cartels?" Sophie offered, "Can't they turn him over?"

"That's the thing," Hardison clicked the remote and dozens of newspaper articles, many of which in Spanish, popped onto the screen, "This guy is the Borg of illegal operations. Either you assimilate into his cartel, of he kills you." The dead silence behind him caused Hardison to turn around. The rest of the team looked at him with utterly confused looks on their faces. "Star Trek?" he clarified, "Seriously? Y'all have no idea what I'm talking about?" More blank stares. Sophie and Parker blinked in rapid succession. "Y'all need to get lives…" He turned back to the TV screens.

Eliot leaned over to Parker and fake whispered, "I think it's the other way around actually." She giggled and scooted two more fortune cookies over to him.

Hardison spun around and pointed a finger at the Hitter. "Don't go there, Mr. I-got-my-ass-handed-to-me-by-a-90-year-old-woman-with-a-rolling-pin." Nate snickered into his coffee. Sophie hid her laugh behind a perfectly manicured hand. Parker pursed her lips in mock silence. They all knew better than to remind Eliot how he received some of the injuries he now sported during their last mission to Wisconsin a couple days ago.

Eliot, however, was not finding the situation humorous. The smile wiped from his face and he was starting to turn several shades of red. Nate, realizing the explosion about to occur, decided to divert attention back to the mission at hand. "Hardison, when did these two men meet?"

"Approximately, four months ago, Espinosa starts hearing about this kid around El Paso who looks very similar to him. So he goes to check it out. Long story short, Espinosa makes friends with Pablo and hears the kid's sad tale. Offers Pablo a job doing odd stuff, eventually grooming him to be his personal bodyguard.

"Last week, Las Serpientes were working a job and things went massively wrong." On screen, video footage from an El Paso news station pops up showing numerous cop cars and ambulances, lights going, parked outside a little restaurant. "El Paso police, working with INS and US Marshal agents raided one of Espinosa's restaurants. Somehow in the ensuing chaos of the raid, Espinosa switches IDs with Pablo, and after some major sweet talking, was able to convince the authorities that he was, indeed, Pablo Rodriguez Lopez, Jr. and that he, an innocent bystander, should be released. US Marshals, exstatic that they had the famed Javier Espinosa of La Serpiente Cartel in custody did not look too closely at identification and carted poor Pablo off to be extradited and deported to Mexico."

"Where's the kid now?" Eliot growled.

"U.S Marshal holding facility in El Paso," Hardison answered.

"Where's Espinosa?" Parker piped up.

"Laying really low," Hardison turned back to the group, "He hasn't popped up anywhere on my grid since the raid."

"Last thing he wants to do," Nate began, "is make the US Marshals question the identity of the kid they have in custody. He's waiting until everything blows over to make a big comeback. No doubt he was planning this when he first met Pablo, or at least heard of him." Nate got up with his cup of coffee and started walking towards the row of TVs.

"And just to make things more interesting," Hardison started.

"More interesting than dealing with Las Serpientes?" Eliot raised an eyebrow at the Hacker.

"Some of the people Espinosa has pissed off over the years as well as a few the cartels he hasn't been able to out-muscle have decided to band together and plan on taking him out on the way back to Mexico." Parker and Sophie groaned. Eliot closed his eyes and put his head in his hands. Nate just continued to sip his coffee and stare at the mark.

"So let me get this straight," Eliot began, looking up to the mastermind at the front of the room, "We get to bullshit our way into US Marshal security, rescue a kid who was wrongfully identified and could be assassinated at any time because of it, infiltrate La Serpiente organization and take it and its leader down, and hopefully snag some of their money to give to the Lopez family."

"Yup," Nate nodded to the screen.

"Wonderful. No problem," the Hitter's statement dripped of sarcasm. Inwardly, he groaned at the phantom beatings he was already taking.

"So," the leader cheerfully turned around to face the crew, "let's go steal us a cartel."

* * *

More coming soon!


	3. Chapter 3

_I again appologize for another boring chapter. I'm trying... I keep getting distracted with new ideas for other fanfic. Action should improve soon. After rewatching The Gone Fishin' Job, I realize I have at least 10 days to freakin' figure out! _

_But thank you all again for the support, favoriting, encouragement, and offers to help! _

* * *

_"Let's go steal us a cartel."_

* * *

The plan was to get an early flight down to El Paso that evening, have Parker and Eliot do recon at a couple of Espinosa's haunts, while Hardison, Sophie, and Nate set up cover stories. Unfortunately, El Paso was getting socked with major thunderstorms, causing their first flight to be canceled and their subsequent one to be delayed… twice. When all was said and done, it was almost 2 am when they finally reached their destination. Cranky at being cooped up in a giant can all evening, Nate checked his weary crew into a hotel and mumbled something about getting underway later on that morning, preferably after some sleep and coffee; lots of coffee.

When 8 am finally rolled around, Nate went out to the living area of their hotel suite and found Eliot already up, drinking coffee, and reading the sports section of the _El Paso Times_. Both men nodded their acknowledgement of each other, and Nate poured his own cup brew. He turned and sat down in a plush chair across from the Hitter. "How's the inventory?" Nate asked, nodding to Eliot's knee.

"Black eye's almost better," the younger man responded, "Ribs still ache when I breathe, wrist is sore, back aches, and the knee is better, but if I step just right, I get some jarring pain." He took another sip and turned the page. "All-in-all, it's nothing I can't handle."

Nate nodded. He knew, deep down, he had to back off soon to allow his crew to heal- especially the Retrieval Specialist. Yet the people in need kept coming and they had to help. "I'm sorry for having to keep you throwing yourself into harm's way, Eliot."

"It's what I do," Eliot shrugged and smiled, "Though I do gotta tell you, I'm really gonna need a break here, soon."

"I understand," Nate sipped his own coffee.

"Don't get me wrong," Eliot began, tossing the paper onto the coffee table, "You broke me, man. I wanna help these people. Yet, I need to step back for a little bit." He hesitated before going on. "And so do you, Nate."

"I'm good, Eliot. Thank you, though."

"Nate, seriously, man. You're bouncin' back and forth between one addiction to the other." The conversation had officially entered an area Nathan Ford did not wish to go.

Mercifully, the girls' bedroom door opened and Sophie came out to the living room. "Good morning," she smiled. They each reciprocated her greeting. She made herself a cup of tea and sat down on the couch and looked back and forth from Nate to Eliot. She could tell that something was amiss between the two. "So what's the plan?" she asked, hoping to diffuse the tension.

"You and Hardison are going to go down to the INS/U.S. Marshal headquarters and see what Pablo's status is," Nate began, "See when they're planning on transporting him.

"Eliot, you and Parker scope out known areas where Espinosa and Las Serpientes hang out. Try to stay low until you see him, and _only_ until you have an excellent opening can you make your presence known."

"What're you gonna do?" Eliot asked, finishing the rest of his coffee.

"I'm going to search for something we can use to convince Espinosa to work with us."

Eliot stood up and gradually put weight on his bad leg, wincing as he started to walk. "I'll go wake up Hardison," he said through clenched teeth.

"I thought you said your knee wasn't too bad?" Nate called out.

"It's not when I'm moving. I've been sitting for an hour, so it's a little stiff," Eliot answered, his limp decreasing as he neared Hardison's and Nate's room.

Sophie watched as he went in and felt sorry for how much damage Eliot let himself take all so the rest of the team didn't have to. She smiled, though, remembering that it was Eliot's own fault for the beating he took from the old woman in Wisconsin. He did take her grand-daughter for a "roll in the hay," so he deserved it a little.

Nate sighed loudly and Sophie turned her attention back to her leader. "He needs rest," she simply and quietly stated.

"I know, Soph," he sounded worn himself, "He and I were just discussing that." She raised an eyebrow for him to continue, but Parker opened the door and stepped out, rubbing her eyes. From the other doorway, Hardison yawned and stretched. Eliot scooted out behind him, all trace of the limp gone. Once the newly awakened members of his crew assembled what drinks and munchies that they wanted and sat down- Parker on the other end of the couch and Hardison in Eliot's vacated seat- Nathan went over the plan with them again, only this time with a bit more thorough description than what he had with the Hitter and the Grifter. Eliot, standing behind Hardison, shifted his weight and folded his arms across his chest.

As she listened to the game plan, Parker tilted and cracked her neck, causing Sophie to grimace and twitch from the sound. The thief's face drained of all emotion and she settled into "game mode". It still astounded and even impressed Hardison how quickly the little blonde could go from being as psychotic as a fruit bat to zoned into the mission in a drop of a hat. It made her even more mesmerizing. "Hardison?" Nate was asking.

"Wha- ? Yeah, sorry man," Hardison turned his attention back to their leader.

"Do you have that business listing for Parker and Eliot?" Nate repeated himself.

"You bet." He started up his computer and within a jiffy was rapidly typing away. Eliot's and Parker's cell phones vibrated with new multimedia messages.

Parker looked up from the message to Hardison, her eyes softening for only a moment, then clouding over once more as she stood and headed towards the door. "C'mon, Sparky," she hit Eliot in the ribs and continued walking. Eliot's breath caught, and he let out an audible groan. "WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!" came the yell just as the hotel door was closing. The Hitter rolled his eyes and followed her out on their mission.

"Good luck!" Nate called to them. Then once the door closed, "You'll need it."


	4. Chapter 4

"_Good luck!" Nate called to them. Then once the door closed, "You'll need it."_

* * *

The foreboding gray building of the joint INS/U.S. Marshal headquarters looked even more dismal in the fog and drizzle. And that was just the front. At the back, where Hardison and Sophie were marching up, the place looked down right depressing. It wasn't supposed to be the Hilton, and so therefore it worked perfectly to hold the offices of the two agencies created to regulate immigration and government laws.

Cruisers, vans, trucks, not to mention the various assortments of officers and detainees milled around the back; coming and going, picking up and dropping off their cargos. Behind one of the vans, Sophie mussed up her hair, tossed a stick of gum in her mouth and slightly ruffled her clothes. Hardison pulled a set of handcuffs out of the briefcase he was carrying and Sophie placed her hands behind her back. He pulled the badge out from under his shirt and put on the INS jacket he had made shortly before they left Boston. Cuffed, Sophie closed her eyes, took a deep breath and assumed her character. Hardison grabbed her arm, "Are you ready?" he asked.

"Let's go," she opened her eyes and started marching out from behind the van. She pretended to struggle with him and spouted off, loudly enough to capture a few people's attention. She yelled at him, bouncing back and forth between Spanish and English. What she was saying was not pretty and even was starting to raise a few eyebrows from a few of the gang members waiting for their agent handlers to take them inside.

"_You're starting to overkill, Sophie,"_ Nate's voice came through the com in her ear,_ "Tone it down a bit."_ She growled through her teeth and continued to struggle as Hardison marched her through the throng of people.

"Oh, calm down, _mamacita_," Hardison was saying, "You're just pissed 'cause you got caught…" He continued to scold her as they marched past other officers and prisoners, many of whom were cheering on the actress as she continued to lambast him in Spanglish.

The reception area was crowded, even at this early hour of the morning. Hardison, who had studied the maps and blueprints of the facility while waiting for the plan to take off, navigated Sophie off the side, where three hallways branched off from the main room. They took the left hall and, flashing his badge at the security checkpoint officer who nodded and waived him past the metal detector, walked down to the elevator. He punched the down arrow and waited a short while before the ding that the mobile box had stopped at their floor. They entered and before anyone else could join them, Hardison hit the "close" button and the button for Sublevel 2. Just as they got underway, he pushed the "stop" button and they came to a halt.

"_Where are we at, you two?"_ Nate asked.

"We're in the elevator," Hardison answered, removing the handcuffs and turning his back to the Grifter as she started to change. Granted she had a blouse and skirt on under the baggy clothing she was wearing, he still felt improper just watching her remove her outer clothes. "Sophie's changing and we're about to get out on Pablo's level." Hardison opened up the briefcase and placed the discarded clothes and shoes inside a small duffle bag that had been folded up inside and pulled out a suit coat and heels for his partner to wear.

"_Excellent,"_ Nate sounded relieved.

After Hardison had placed his own INS costume in the duffle, he zipped up the bag and handed it to Sophie. He knelt on the ground and looked to the floor as she climbed onto his back (sans heels of course), reached up and moved the trap door at the top of the elevator out of the way. She threw the duffle up and over so it would be hidden on top of the vehicle. She replaced the door and climbed back down. Fixing her suit, she stepped into her heels and started to meditate to get herself into her new character. Hardison pressed the "Start" button and the elevator started to descend again. "How's our other half doing?" she asked.

"_Not the greatest,"_ Eliot's drawl rumbled through the com.

0000oooo0000

Of the list that Hardison had supplied the Hitter and the Thief, four of the businesses were bars, a couple more were grocery/miscellany goods stores, two family restaurants, and a parking lot. Unsurprisingly, they struck out at the bars, which weren't open that early in the morning. The parking lot was also a bust. The only bit of luck Eliot and Parker has was one of the family restaurants- El Sombrero Rojo by name- sat across the street from one of the grocery stores. The two of them sat at a table in front of the large picture window, having a couple more cups of coffee and watching the comings and goings of the clientele at each business. So far, nothing out of the ordinary had caught their eye- simple little families flitting in and out of the stores, purchasing goods.

Eliot looked around the little restaurant. A couple of small families sat in booths, having brunch. Over in the corner over by the doors that led to the kitchen, three Hispanic males sat conversing in low tones. He couldn't see their faces clearly because they were in a dark corner and the three men were talking so close. Funny, he didn't remember seeing them enter and they certainly weren't there when he and Parker had gotten there. He had made certain of noting their surroundings- anyone who was in the room and all ways of exit and entrance. He only had taken his eyes off the front door for a second to look the other way down the street. "Parker," he said low. She stopped gazing outside to look at him. "Keep watching outside. Let me know if you see anything funny."

"Why? Where are you going?" she looked concerned.

"Nowhere," he said into his coffee, glancing sideways over to the table, "I just wanna stay focused on those cats over in the corner."

Parker resisted the urge to just spin around and look at what had Eliot's attention. She simply pretended to tuck an invisible hair over her ear and used her peripheral vision to take a look. She nodded and continued to look back outside at the people wandering on their errands. Hurry up and wait. She was so tired of just sitting. There were places to be and things to steal, places to break into and money to earn. Playing surveillance was never, ever a strong suit. Her surveillance consisted of five minutes of actually glancing over the property, listing out the security system(s) and the counter measures to trick or disarm it/them, and anywhere between eight to fifteen seconds to get her items and get out. She thought her head would explode if she had to sit any longer. Instead, she started to bounce her knee and sighed.

The chimes overhead of the front door rang out and a stunning Latina walked in. Her hair hung down past her shoulders and its sheen sparkled in the artificial lighting. The pink and red sundress she wore flowed and clung to her shapely body at just the right times as she walked. The hostess greeted her by name in Spanish and swept her arm back to the table with the three gentlemen. The hot woman's voice was pure crystal when she answered and as she made her way back towards the kitchen, she happened to look over and made eye contact with Eliot. His eyes sparkled and he flashed a flirtatious smile at her. She smirked back and said "_hola_" softly, just barely audible for him to hear. He watched as she went back to the table and had this sinking feeling. Strange. Usually gorgeous women like that provoked other reactions in him. There was just something off about her.

He happened to look back at the table with the three men were and watched as she opened her arms wide and sat down in the lap of the man in the middle, planting kisses all over his face. When they pulled back and looked at their other companions, Eliot realized who it was. The Latina was the woman from their briefing- the one Espinosa had his arm around in the picture. And the man whom she had been kissing was none other than the cartel leader himself.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note:** _WHOOHOO! THE MUSE IS WORKING! Hence why I have been able to post, now, three chapters in 2 days.

And once again, thank you all who have been encouraging me to keep going with this. This latest scene has been enjoyable to write and I hope you all enjoy it as well.

* * *

_The Latina was the woman from their briefing- the one Espinosa had his arm around in the picture. And the man whom she had been kissing was none other than the cartel leader himself._

* * *

"Shit," Eliot quietly swore into his coffee.

"What?" Parker whipped her head around to face him.

"_What's wrong, Eliot?" _Nate asked over the com.

"Espinosa's here," Eliot answered both. Parker started looking around, stealth be damned.

"_Okay,"_ Nate came back over the com, _"Stay low. Don't do anything stupid. Keep him in your sights."_

"Yeah," Eliot growled, "About that…"

"_What happened, Eliot_," Nate was shocked. Surely the Hitter wouldn't be the one to put a kink in the plans.

Eliot glanced over to the cartel table. Sure enough, the woman looked over at him and looked back to Espinosa, nodding her head in their direction. "He kinda snuck in on us. I don't know how long he's been here. I don't know if he's noticed we're just sitting here doing surveillance," he answered, locking eyes with Parker.

"_Okay. That's not too bad."_

"Um…" Eliot swallowed the last of his coffee and pulled out his wallet.

"_Your cover hasn't been blown has it?"_

"Possibly," he flagged down the hostess and paid for their coffee, also giving her a tip as well, "I kinda accidently flirted with his girl." Parker's eyes widened and she gasped.

"_Kinda acciden- ELIOT!"_

"What can I say, man. It's habit." He stood up, and then helped Parker with her seat. "Ya ready, Darlin'?"

"Oh, why thank you, Baby," Parker said with her own drawl and stood up.

Back at the hotel, Nate dropped his head into his hands. What was with his crew and the word "baby"? _"All right, you two get out of there, and don't draw attention to yourselves."_

"Already on it," Eliot growled through the com.

Parker scooted her chair in, linked her arm in his, and took him slightly aback when she planted a kiss on his cheek. "Will ya get me one of those funny hat thingies now, Honey?" she purred.

"Sombrero?" Eliot laughed, "Or course, Sweetheart. I'll get ya whatever ya want." He took a step and thought his knee was going to give out. Parker seemed to sense this and used her body to give him more support until he felt capable of walking on his own. After a few steps the pain subsided and the stiffness seemed to abate.

The two fake love birds exited the restaurant and started walking out to the parking lot a few shops down where their truck was parked. With each step, Parker gradually loosened her grip on Eliot's arm and finally just let go. He was looking around, sneaking a glance behind them to see if they were being followed. No one that he could see, but he did happen to notice a block up there was a group of young males just hanging out by a Chevy Nova that was up on blocks, the front tires missing. He immediately started tensing up, and grabbed Parker's arm. "Group of guys up there," he growled close to her ear, "I don't trust 'em."

"Neither do I," she remarked back, "They've looked over at us a couple of times."

"I don't think we're being followed, but in case we are and that group joins with anything behind us, I want you to first duck for cover and then run like hell back to the hotel. Don't look back."

"And just leave you?" she looked over at him astounded at what he was suggesting.

"One, I can handle it. Two, if it's an initiation and I survive, then we've got an 'in' with the cartel," he was gearing up for a battle that may or may not happen. "I know you can at least get out of here and get back to the hotel and no one will notice until you're long gone."

The two of them walked into the parking lot and stopped dead in their tracks. Right in the middle of the lot, Javier Espinosa stood with his hands clasped in front of him, a thug flanking either side. Eliot reached up and nonchalantly ran a hand through his hair, pulling out the com in his ear as he went. He put it in his pocket and breathed deep. "Eliot's off com," Parker said under her breath, through clenched teeth.

The young cartel leader took a step forward and raised his arms, "Let's cut to the chase, shall we," he began, "You both never ordered anything to eat. You both sat and drank coffee, or at least pretended to while you scoped out the neighborhood. And it wasn't until you noticed I was there did you finally do anything. One can only assume that you were waiting for me." He took one more step and folded his hands, "So what business do you have in my fine city?"

To be a smartass or to not be a smartass, that is the question. "Came looking for a job," Eliot answered, "Heard after your little bust a couple weeks back you were short a couple of guys. Ya hiring?"

"Ah," Espinosa smiled, "You apparently know who I am."

"Yessir."

"What do you bring to the table?"

"I've got some connections that can help you move your… products."

"So you're a middle man?"

"Middle man… Muscle… I wear many hats."

"And why do you want to be a part of _**my**_ organization?" Just briefly, Espinosa's eyes darted to something behind Eliot. Obviously some help had arrived, perhaps the group from down the street. Oh, hell. No guts, no glory.

"Heard your girlfriend was hot." Eliot's smirk grew a little bigger.

Espinosa's own smile grew wider. "That she is… That she is…"

Out of nowhere, a leg encircled Eliot's thigh and a lithe female body pressed up against his back. A small, but rough had grabbed a large fist full of his hair and a stiletto knife was placed to his throat, right under his jaw. The hand pulled back, raising the front of his head, exposing more of his neck. "_Gracias_ for the compliment, _gringo_."


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Again, thank you all for the favs and comments. I really do appreciate this.

I was originally going to leave this chapter just with Nate's end and Sophie's and Hardison's end, and leave you all hanging about what's going on with Eliot. But that's just cruel and unusual punishment. Plus I'm already on chapter 6 and still on the first freakin' day! I've got nine more to figure out!

* * *

"_Eliot's off coms"_

Nate took a huge, deep breath and let it out slowly. One, and possibly two, of his crew were now on their own and there was nothing he could do to help them. He could only hear small snatches of conversation and a gentle breeze that blew past Parker's ear. He started pacing the small living area in the hotel room- at first walking towards the mini-bar, then away from it, and then back again. He was torturing himself. He wanted a drink so badly, but there was still work to be done.

He went to his room and pulled out a white suit and cowboy hat from his suitcase and went to clean up and change. He still had to find something that they could use to convince Espinosa to work with them. The only way that he could see to do that was to walk the city and find out.

Just before he was about to leave the room, he crossed over to the mini- bar, opened it and took out a small bottle of vodka. He was just going to have a small swig to get him going. Downing the entire thing he felt the liquid courage flood his body and he walked to the door. Placing the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door he made his was down the hall and entered the elevator.

Just as the elevator door was closing, the massive sound of gunfire and a loud scream erupted through the com.

00000ooooo00000

"_Eliot's off coms"_

Sophie met Hardison's eyes; worry etched across both of their faces for a brief moment. Once the elevator doors opened, the two con artists were back to business and marched up to the officer at one of the in-take windows. The robust, older woman barely looked over her glasses at them. "Names?" she barked.

"Maria Gomez," Sophie answered, a slight Spanish accent added to her voice.

"Mark Robers," Hardison also replied.

"Identification," the officer held out her hands and snatched the IDs from them. She looked over her glasses at them, then down to the identifications, then back up to them, and once more back down to the identifications. Officer Hardass put one ID on the counter and tilted the other this way and that. Finally, she huffed and handed both back to them. "Business?"

"We're here to see our client, Javier Espinosa," Sophie answered. If Officer Hardass was distant before, she went downright frigid at the mere mention of the cartel leader's name. She typed away at the computer, banging on the keys. Next to her the printer whirred and spat out a sheet of paper with two visitor badges printed on it. Furiously, Officer Hardass assembled the badges and practically threw them at Sophie and Hardison. "Return 'em here when yur done," she barked, and pointed to the seating area behind them, "Sit until yur called."

"Thank you, ma'am," Sophie smiled sweetly.

"And you have a wonderful day," Hardison added.

Both of them turned around and walked towards a couple of chairs. "What a _bitch_," the both said under their breaths at the same time.

No sooner had they sat down in their chairs when gunfire and a scream erupted through their coms.

00000ooooo00000

"_Gracias for the complement, gringo."_

Eliot was painfully aware how sharp the small knife next to his jugular was. She had barely touched him and he could feel a small trickle of blood wind its way down his neck. Internally he was indecisive if he should be pissed that someone was able to sneak up and incapacitate him or to be turned on that the person who did it was an incredibly hot woman.

He looked over to Parker, who stood dumbfounded. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide. She waivered back and forth, clearly battling on whether to stick out this situation or to run like he told her.

"What's your name,_ gringo_?" Espinosa asked.

"Jack," Eliot lied.

"Well, Jack," Espinosa began, "I honestly don't know if we have anything available for you. I already have plenty of connections to handle my merchandise and I really don't need any—"

Eliot noticed the cartel leader's gaze fixate on something behind him and the woman. There were a few scuffs of cowboy boots against the pavement and he figured the five men that were standing by the Chevy earlier had now come to their leader's assistance. However, he watched as Espinosa's face transformed from a brief glimpse of confusion, to an even briefer glimpse of terror, and finally settled to anger as he and his two bodyguards opened their suit jackets to remove massive handguns from holsters. Behind him, Eliot heard the distinct sound of safeties being removed from other weapons.

Eliot growled over at Parker, "Run." In a graceful spin, he grabbed the knife away from his throat and before she could react, Eliot pirouetted the hot assassin behind him and faced the firing squad. Sure enough, it was the group from earlier and they had their guns trained on the three men behind him. He noticed two of the thugs starting to pull back on the triggers. Gently, but firmly, he pushed the woman between two cars and threw the dagger at the middle man. It took him two strides to reach the man to the left of the one he dropped and literally picked him up, removed the gun, and threw him at the two that were on the other side of the, now, bleeding man. Gunfire broke out between the two groups, and Eliot believed that he heard a scream, though from who he could not tell.

The next closest thug turned and pointed his gun at him. Eliot reached between the guy's arms and thrust the heel of his palm up into the man's nose. Instantly blood started pouring out and the man's eyes rolled back into his head. Eliot grabbed the gun as the injured ruffian dropped to the ground. Eliot popped the round out of the gun and released the magazine. Thankfully he moved just in time, as a bullet whizzed past his head. The dazed man that he had thrown earlier was pointing his gun at him, though his was clearly unable to aim decently. Eliot grabbed the man's ankle, dragged him closer and proceeded to punch him out.

Eliot stood and looked down at the carnage before him. Two of the five men were shot and lying in pools of blood, another man had the knife sticking out of his chest- his own blood pool expanding. The other two men's faces were indistinguishable from the punches the Hitter had administered.

"Well done, _gringo_," someone said behind him. Eliot turned, bringing up his hands in fists, ready to go down swinging if needed. When he realized that is was Espinosa, he relaxed his stance. "You're quick, I'll give you that." Eliot simply nodded. He covertly glanced around for Parker. He found her looking out from under a Jeep. He raised an eyebrow at her and she nodded back at him. She started pulling herself out from under the vehicle. He noticed out of the corner of his eye, the hot Latina come out from between the cars that he had pushed her. He also noticed her rubbing her wrist and he felt badly.

Somewhere nearby, the sound of police sirens sounded, coming closer and closer. "Shall we discuss this matter further in a safer location, _gringo_?" Espinosa offered.

"Absolutely," Eliot answered. The Latina walked directly up to him, looking him dead straight in the eyes. She wasn't happy. She raised an eyebrow and then dropped to a knee. The maneuver took him by surprise to say the least. When he looked down, she was pulling the dagger out of the one man's chest and wiped it off on the thug's clothes.

"Lola!" Espinosa yelled, "_Ahora_!" The woman stood up and ran towards her boyfriend.

"_Gringo_!" she yelled back, "You comin'?"

Eliot nodded and ran up to Parker, grabbing her elbow. "You okay?" he rumbled.

"Yup. You?" she looked up at him.

"Yeah. I'll double check later." The two partners ran after the cartel members and caught up to them as they got to a Cadillac Escalade. They all piled in and drove off somewhere into the city.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry, everyone, for my lack of updating. The Muse took another vacation and in the meantime I started a second job. So if I'm not opening one job and closing the other, then it's usually the other way around.

Anyway, the next few chapters will hopefully be a lot longer than the previous ones have been. I have a lot of action to get through and I don't want to be on chapter 34 and only on day 3. Thank you, guys and gals, for sticking with this. Your support is greatly appreciated.

* * *

"Parker? Eliot?" Nate said through the com. He was walking fairly hurried in order to get through the various throngs of locals on their errands and tourist gawking about in order so he could find a private area to try to communicate with his M.I.A team members. "Parker? Eliot? Somebody talk to me! What, the hell, is going on?"

The gunfire had stopped and Nate was unable to hear anything except wind and some crunching gravel. The silence was practically deafening. Wait. Was that a couple of voices he heard? A squelch resounded through his ear and Nate knew that one of their earbuds had been destroyed. "Damnit! **PARKER? ELIOT?** One _of you talk to me and tell me what is going on!" _

"_Nate…"_ Sophie's soft, warning voice came through his com, _"Relax. This is Eliot. He's got it under control. He'll keep them both safe." _Sophie as ever, was his grounding rod with the tempests rolled. However, it still didn't stop him from worrying over them. He took a minute to slow his pace, and propped himself up against a wall and closed his eyes to calm himself. Where was that damn drink when he needed one?

"Thanks, Soph," Nate sighed, "How are things on your end?"

He heard someone bark something in the background of the com. _"We've just been called in now,"_ she answered.

"Good luck," Nate resumed his walking, a bit more relaxed and started scoping out the business around him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shop window with brightly colored displays. It had captured his attention, so he decided to cross the street to take a closer look.

The shop was a small party supply and souvenir shop that had a busy amount of sombreros, serapes, and piñatas- all in violent neon colors- smattered all over the windows. In the lower right hand corner of the window, a bright red sign made him smile. It read "Now hiring: Store manager. Inquire within." The bell above the door jingled out a pleasant sound as he entered the store. A large older woman sat behind the counter, waiving a paper fan in front of her face. At the sight of the man in the white suit and cowboy hat, she stood up from the stool she was sitting on and smiled, the folds of skin crinkled around her eyes. "Bienvenido! Welcome! How can I help you?" she said, her voice old but pleasant.

"Mornin', Ma'am," Nate said, throwing a Southern accent on his own voice, "I was just passin' by an' happen'd ta see that sign ou' thar about a store manager position bein' available."

00000ooooo00000

The initial sound of gunfire through the coms caused Hardison's breath to catch in his throat and Sophie's heart felt like it dropped into her $400 shoes. Images of the heartless cartel leader standing over Eliot's and Parker's lifeless bodies lying in pools of blood flashed through her head- each scene more gruesome than the one before. A shiver ran up her spine and she literally shook. Hardison looked over at her; his eyes betrayed the panic that was running through him. "_Parker? Eliot?"_ they heard Nate yell through the com.

Sophie took a deep breath and refocused her attention. Their leader was starting to unravel at the seams and she better intervene before there was drinking involved. "Nate…" she quietly cooed into the com, "Relax. This is Eliot. He's got it under control. He'll keep them both safe." She looked over to Hardison with the last statement. He nodded and relaxed his shoulders. He let out the breath he didn't realize he was still holding. No doubt about it, the Grifter was good at her job. She lied by trade, and though she was pretty sure that, yes, Eliot could take care of both Parker and himself, she wasn't sure if she was telling the truth about their safety. The real question was- was she trying to convince Nate and Hardison that, or herself?

There was an audible sigh through the com letting her know that Nate was buying it, at least for now. "_Thanks Soph,"_ he said, _"How are things on your end?" _

"Gomez! Robers!" a tank of a security guard barked out.

"We've just been called in now," she replied. They both stood up and approached the guard. Hardison switched the briefcase to his other hand and held out his right one to shake. Sophie smoothed down her suit.

"_Good luck,"_ came Nate's reply.

The guard looked down at Hardison's hand with indifference and then looked back up to them. "Follow me, please," he said curtly. The guard turned on his heel and marched off down a corridor. Hardison and Sophie looked at each other in disbelief and followed him down the hall.

The guard stopped at a room marked "Interrogation 7" and opened the door. He stepped aside and motioned for them to enter. Once inside, the guard slammed the door behind them. "Good heavens!" Sophie exhaled.

"I'm thinkin' they don't like this guy," Hardison said, sitting down at the table and opened up the briefcase.

"Seriously," she agreed, and sat down in the chair next to him. She watched as the techie pulled out his laptop and a new cell phone. He held up to the gadget to show her, a huge grin spreading across his face.

"Like my new phone?" he asked.

"Sure…" she looked over at him, skeptical about what he was about to do.

He pressed the talk button and a red light illuminated at the top. "And now, anyone listening behind that one way mirror there," he said, nodding at the large pane in front of them, "can't hear a thing. I took out the guts and installed a small white noise generator in it."

"Ohh…" she nodded, "Much like that whatchmacallit a couple years ago in the Fowler case."

His smile wiped from his face and he shook his head at her, "Seriously? It's called a metal detector."

"Yeah, that one."

The door next to the mirror opened and a young man in disheveled clothing walked in. As quickly as it opened, the door shut behind him. Sophie and Hardison stood and held out their hands to shake the young kid's. He returned the gesture. "_Hola_, Pablo," Sophie greeted and continued speaking to him in Spanish, "I'm Sophie and this is Hardison. We've been… "

Pablo held up his hands in mock surrender. "Listen, Lady," he said, "I failed out of Spanish class my freshman year of high school. I have no idea what you're sayin'."

She motioned for him to sit down across from them. "My apologies, Pablo. I'm Sophie and this is Hardison. Your sister contacted our team to help get you out."

"You've talked with Eva? How is she? Is she mad at me? How are our brothers and sisters?" His questions came rapid fire.

"She's fine, albeit very worried about you," she answered, "And that's why we're here. We're going to get you out, but first we need to hear from you what all happened that night and some information on your upcoming hearing as well as any information you can give us on Javier Espinosa and Las Serpiente cartel."

00000ooooo00000

The SUV made seemingly random turns and maneuvered throughout the city of El Paso. Every time Eliot thought he could try to settle down from the fight, the beefy thug driving the vehicle would take another corner at a jarring rate. Perhaps things would be better if they were seat belted in, but he and Parker were in a hurry so they had no choice but to jump in the cargo area of the Caddy. Eliot was using all the muscles he could to keep mostly Parker, but also himself from flying all over the back.

"Where're you from,_ gringo_?" Espinosa said from the middle bench seat.

"Around," Eliot growled as another wicked turn caught him off guard.

"You don't really share too much about yourself," Espinosa threw a skeptical look back at the hitter.

"Call it self-preservation," Eliot dropped the arm that he had around Parker, "I've been known to hang around Dallas mostly. There's nowhere I officially call 'home' though."

"_Bueno, bueno_," Espinosa nodded, "And you, _blanca_?"

Espinosa and Eliot looked over at Parker. When she finally realized he was talking to her, her eyes grew as wide as saucers and she searched Eliot's face for answers. "Ummm…. Uhhhh…." she stuttered, "A-a-round…." She looked back at the cartel leader, "like him…" She pointed over to Eliot just as the driver took another fast turn. Eliot barely had time to grab her before she flew into the side. "_**SERIOUSLY?"**_ Parker yelled up to the driver in Spanish, "Can we chill with the turns?"

The driver looked in the rearview mirror in astonishment. Everyone else's shock was apparent as they turned around to look at the blond thief. "What?" she switched back to English. Eliot rolled his eyes and looked out the front windshield. Lola laughed aloud, _"Mi hermano,"_ she started, using the word for "brother", "always uses that same look with me. She your sister, _gringo_?"

"Not by blood," he answered, "Just some chick I got outta hard spot a few years back. I keep leavin' her behind an' she keeps followin' me." He looked over to Parker and noticed the slightly hurt look on her face. His eyes softened and he gave her a smirk to let her know he was joking. She relaxed a bit and gave him a small smile in return.

Lola laughed again and slapped Parker on the hand, startling the young woman. "And that's what every good _hermana_ does; follows her brother."

The mood in the car lightened and the psychotic turns diminished. "Hector," Espinosa tapped the driver on the shoulder, "take us to Graciela's." Hector nodded and made another left turn, this time in a gentle, smooth fashion.

00000ooooo00000

Sophie and Hardison walked their way back to the hotel, both lost in thought over the information that Pablo was able to give them. There wasn't much that he had given them about that evening and about the cartel that Hardison hadn't already pulled up. However, he did know a little about the closest people to Espinosa including his deputy and personal bodyguard- his girlfriend Lola- as well as in recent months, Espinosa was starting to lose some suppliers that he used to traffic his various good back and forth across the border. Many of the businesses he was using were meeting disastrous ends, mainly by cartels that Espinosa had tried eliminated.

They also found out that they had three more days until his deportation hearing. At least their timeline wasn't already looming over their head, so they had a little time to get a better plan into place. They firmly believed that was going to be very difficult part- Pablo had Espinosa's wallet on him the night of the arrest and Espinosa had never been fingerprinted before, so for all points and purposes, Pablo had assumed the identity of Javier Espinosa.

Once back in the hotel room, Sophie kicked off her shoes, took off her blazer, and collapsed onto the couch. Still no word from Parker or Eliot, and the rock of nerves had started forming again. She pushed her earbud further in her ear to hear how Nate was doing, talking to the shop owner about a job. The thought of Nate working retail made her smile.

Hardison had set his computer down on the coffee table and went off into the room he was sharing with Nate. Quickly changing out of the suit and tie and into jeans and a tee, he started worrying over a certain blond thief again. His temporary distraction now gone, thoughts of Parker drifted back into his head. Hardison was not a particularly violent man. And he was certain that he wouldn't survive against Eliot, but the Hitter would be first on his hit list for not keeping her safe.

However, he still had some work to do. He went back out to his laptop and pulled up with an orange soda and poured over maps, blueprints and security layouts.

00000ooooo00000

The Escalade pulled into a gravel parking lot in front of a small adobe bar. The neon sign, currently unlit, proclaimed the establishment to be "Graciela's" with a female flamenco dancer next to the name. Hector pulled around back and into a parking space designated for "_el jeffe_", and popped the tailgate for Eliot and Parker to be able to get out.

Eliot crawled out the back and held out his arm to assist Parker. She looked back at the other four cartel members as she exited the vehicle to ensure they were all preoccupied, before using her leverage to pull herself up to Eliot's ear. "My com dropped out of my ear while I was ducking for cover," she whispered. He nodded in understanding. As he closed the tailgate, he reached in his pocket and discretely put his own back in.

"Nate," Eliot growled low to avoid the cartel hearing, "We're here. We're fine. Parker lost her com." A chorus of relief from the rest of his party resounded through his ear.

"_It probably was stepped on,"_ Nate said, _"We heard a squelch."_

"With Espinosa now," Eliot rumbled again, "Got anything we can use?"

The two of them walked up to the back door, which Espinosa was unlocking, as Nate relayed what ideas were spinning around. Eliot grunted in agreement, just as the other bodyguard opened the door and walked in. He called back something in Spanish and Espinosa entered the building, motioning everyone else to follow. He lead them through the kitchen and out into the bar. "Have a seat, _gringo,"_ Espinosa said, slapping the countertop as he walked behind it. Parker and Eliot drew up their respective barstools. Lola and Hector followed suit. The other bodyguard leaned himself up against a wall and lit up a cigarillo.

Now that he was sitting and the adrenaline from the fight earlier was starting to abate, Eliot realized how much his knee was hurting again and his ribs were warm with pain. He stifled a groan as he leaned his arms on the bar. "_Ahora_," Espinosa began, "we, as you Americans say, tackle some business." He lined up a row of shot glasses across the bar and turned around to the liquor on the wall. Selecting a very expensive bottle of tequila, he poured out the drinks and raised his glass to the Hitter. "_Gracias, _Jack. You had no reason to protect me and certainly no reason to protect my woman. But you did both without being asked and have proven yourself skilled in a fight. You've earned my respect and my time." The glasses clinked and cheers were made by Lola and a small agreement by Hector before the five of them slammed the contents of the glasses. The bodyguard smoking the cigarillo abstained from the impromptu celebration, but Eliot caught his eye and noticed the man nod his approval.

"Now that the important part is out of the way," the cartel leader poured another round, "what is this connection that you have that could help me?"

"Gotta friend who runs a party supply and souvenir shop…" Eliot started, "Get's shipments of piñatas and stuff from Mexico every other day. He's been gettin' some hard times from a few gang wannabe's and in exchange for a little protection, is willing to use his shipments to move other things."

The cartel leader seemed to ponder over the idea a little bit, nodding his head back and forth as if weighing some options. "Well, Jack," Espinosa said, raising his glass, "Perhaps we can arrange something for this friend of yours. Let's set up a meeting." The two men toasted glasses once more and threw back the burning liquid.

* * *

Hope you're all enjoying this as much as I am writing it… Please let me know if you see any huge grammatical/ spelling errors or if something just plain doesn't make sense. It's shortly after 3 am as I finish this, so forgive me if I'm a little bleary eyed and didn't catch everything.

And as always, I strongly encourage the use of that awesome little hotlink at the bottom. You know the one- it says "Review" :D


	8. Chapter 8

_Yes, it has indeed been two months since an update occurred and I still had yet to get everyone back together. I apologize. Life became insane- while I did give up the second job, a family medical problem took its place. I will try to get this rolling along a little more frequently. I just ask for a little patience._

_

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_

The parking lot Eliot's truck was located in was still cordoned off with crime scene tape, therefore Espinosa offered to have the two con artists dropped off at their hotel. Having been here before on a retrieval job, Eliot picked one on the opposite end of town, furthest away from the one they were staying at. Parker threw her a sideways glance, but having a general idea what he was up to, she decided to keep her mouth shut.

The two men exchanged cell phone numbers and Eliot vowed to call him in the morning with news on what his "friend" wanted to do. He steered Parker toward the front lobby of the sleepy, little motel and watched as the Escalade drove out of sight. Once inside, he led her to and out a side door. "How do you know this place so well?" she asked him. Eliot smirked and looked over at her. "Oh, never mind." She threw a hand up at him and shook her head.

"_What was her name?"_ Hardison asked over the com, "_What did she do? For a living that is."_

"Mandy," the Hitter smiled even more, "Flight attendant. Raleigh to El Paso." Hardison snickered on the other end.

"Hey!" Parker stopped and grabbed Eliot's arm. He growled with annoyance at the sudden halt. "Can we steal a car?" She looked up at him with pleading eyes and then back to the stunning red BMW sitting directly in front of them.

"What? No!" He gently pushed her to the other end of the parking lot and ran around another hotel to get to the street. There he hailed a taxi and had them taken to the middle of the city. When they got out, he lead them around the block and hailed yet another cab and this one he told to drive to the actual hotel they were staying with.

"Paranoid much?" Parker asked him, once they got out in front of the white brick building.

"With who we're dealin' with," he began, "it never hurts to be 'too paranoid'." Once in the elevator, Eliot leaned up against the wall, letting out a sigh and rolling his head around his shoulders. His body was massively protesting the abuse he had put it through the past couple of days. "If anyone is in the shower," he said into the com, "they've twenty seconds to get out before they get removed."

"_It's all yours, buddy,"_ Hardison answered.

"Awesome," the elevator dinged open and Eliot looked around the corner before stepping out. The coast being clear he and Parker walked down the room and opened the door.

Hardison looked up from his computer, relief spreading across his face. Sophie was already standing, waiting to greet them. "Oh thank God," she sighed, and couldn't stop herself from wrapping them both in hugs.

"We're fine, Soph," Eliot patted her back and continued walking to the guys' room to shower. Hardison had stood by then and tapped the hitter on the arm as he walked passed. Eliot nodded, gave a thumbs up and kept walking.

Sophie had let Parker go and allowed Hardison to greet the blonde thief. She looked up at him shyly and he stuttered, not quite forming complete sentences. Somehow, Parker seemed to understand him though and answered in her own broken words. Sophie smiled and quietly sneaked off to the girls' room to give the two a little privacy.

Meanwhile, Eliot had gone into the other room. Nate was sitting in a chair next to the window, a low ball glass swirling in his hands. "Nate," Eliot greeted the mastermind.

"Glad you're back," Nate turned to his teammate, "You alright?"

"More or less," the hitter answered, rifling through his suitcase to find some clean clothing.

"And Parker?"

"Crazy as always. She wanted to steal a BMW on the way back." Nate laughed.

"Everything all set for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, gonna call Espinosa in the morning and will have him meet us at the shop."

"Don't have him show up too early. We have a little work to get done before they get there."

"Yup. No problem. Gonna hit the shower, unless you need in there first."

"Nah. Go for it. We can talk more when you're out." Nate raised his glass to the Hitter and Eliot touched his forehead in salute and limped off to the bathroom. Nate got up and went out to the living area of the suite.

Sophie had returned and was draped across the couch, sipping a cup of tea. Parker was curled up in the fetal position in one of the arm chairs and fallen asleep. Hardison was furiously typing away on the laptop. "What have we got, Hardison?" Nate half whispered.

"Been tracing Espinosa since we got the number," Hardison replied back, also in the same half whisper, "He went back to Graciela's for a half hour, now he's traveling. I'm mapping him now." Nate nodded and took a last swig of his drink and placed the glass over by the bar. He then sat down in the other armchair and took up reading the paper.

The shower turned off and a few minutes later, a now clean Hitter slowly made his way into the living room and sunk down on to the couch. In hushed tones, so as not to wake up Parker, the rest of the crew discussed what was planned for the next day and Sophie and Hardison let Eliot in on the information that they had found out with Pablo.

Before too long, it was just Hardison, Sophie, and Nate talking. An almost inaudible snore came from Eliot which made Sophie smile. "I think we should call it a night," Nate half whispered. He stood, after going into the guys' room briefly, he returned with a pillow and a blanket. Sophie stood and started walking to the girls' room.

"Can you take care of her?" she asked Hardison, nodding at Parker.

"Yeah," he answered. Carefully, he picked her up and carried her into the room and laid her down on the bed that was all messed up. He removed her shoes and then tucked her under the blankets.

"Good night, Hardison," Sophie smiled at him, and waited for him to exit the room before closing the door.

Nate had placed the pillow and blanket on the couch. Carefully, he took a stance that would allow him to quickly get out of harm's way when he needed to. "Eliot," Nate said, putting a hand on the man's shoulder.

Within a moment's notice, the hitter jerked awake and took on a defensive stance, ready to fight anything that would come at him. His eyes focused and realized that it was someone that he knew who had touched him. He gave a grunt and relaxed. "Sorry, Eliot," Nate said, gesturing to the pillow and blanket that he had placed next to him, "Just letting you know we're all turning in. I left those for you."

"Thanks," Eliot replied. He took the pillow and placed it at one end. He tucked his legs up and unfolded the blanket. He gave a loud groan and his face contorted in pain as he stretched out. He sighed and closed his eyes before placing an arm over his face.

" ' Night, Eliot," Nate said, before entering the room.

" 'Night, man," Hardison also said, as he made his way through the living room.

" Night, guys."

00000ooooo00000

The next morning, when Nate walked out to the living room, he was unsurprised to find Eliot up, dressed, and focusing on the newspaper article in front of him. On the couch, the blanket was neatly folded and the pillow lie on top of it. "Good morning, Eliot," he greeted.

"Morning," the Hitter replied, not looking up for the article. As Nate passed by, he looked over the young man's shoulder to read "_**3 Killed, 2 Critical After Gang Fight**_" in big, bold letters.

"Anything we should be concerned about?" Nate asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Not really," Eliot tossed the paper onto the coffee table and took off his glasses, "One's still in a coma, and the other has major memory loss. Once Espinosa learns about the one in coma, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that one dies. Hell, maybe even both considering this is Las Serpientes."

"Have you contacted Espinosa yet?" Nate sat down in the armchair across from him and picked up the paper to scan over the article.

"Nah," Eliot shook his head, "I will once we get to store and get everythin' set up." Nate nodded, took a sip of coffee, and began to read what had all transpired in El Paso in the past 24 hours.

00000ooooo00000

Eliot looked out the large display window at the front of the store, just as a familiar silver Escalade pulled up. "Nate," he yelled back, "he's here." A crash sounded in front of him and he looked up to see Parker standing in front of the counter, her hands outstretched, and a dopey grin plastered across her face. The remains of a ceramic pot lay scattered at her feet. "Enough, Parker," he growled.

"Okay, everyone," Nate said, coming out of the back room his hand over his eye, "are we all set?"

"_Check,"_ Sophie said through the com.

"_Double check,"_ Hardison's voice also came through the com.

Nate looked to Eliot and Parker, who both nodded. Nate removed his hand from his face to reveal an ugly, purple bruise around his eye and a noticeable bump on his forehead. Double checking to make sure the glue holding the fake contusion still held, he brought the ice pack up to his face, careful to not allow any of the condensation to come into contact with the theater makeup. Nate slumped against the counter, just as the chimes above the door tinkled.

"_Dio mio,"_ Javier Espinosa swore as he stepped over what was left of piñatas, pottery, candy, and miscellaneous other trinkets. Lola stared around at the disaster, not moving from her spot in the doorway.

* * *

"_Here's the plan," Nate said, as he unlocked the shop door and he, Parker, and Eliot walked inside, "Sophie and Hardison are going to keep Miss Josie, who owns the shop, occupied for a few days. The three of us gotta destroy this place before Espinosa gets here…"_

"_Wait," Parker stopped midway through the store. Eliot and Nate also had to stop and turn around to look at the bewildered thief._

"_What, Parker?" Eliot asked._

"_You want us to break things?" she asked, an eyebrow popping up._

"_Yes…" Nate drew out the word in slow syllables. It took her a minute to think about what Nate was asking her to do. When it finally dawned on her, a huge smile spread across her face._

"_Can I get started?" she giddily asked, jumping up and down._

_Nate smiled and nodded. "You can break a bunch of things, just not everything." Eliot just sighed and rolled his eyes._

"_Eliot, follow me," the mastermind brought him to the back room where the overstock was kept. "I need you to hit me." Nate was painfully aware of what he was asking the most dangerous member of his team to do._

"_Beg yur pardon?" the shock of what Nate just said made his eyes widen and his accent thicken._

"_We're making this place look like it was attacked. They wouldn't let me escape unscathed, so I need you to hit me."_

"_I don' know, man," Eliot truly didn't know how to react. It was the first time someone actually wanted the punishment he could dish out. "I might be able to pull the punch a bit, but I can't guarantee that I still won't knock ya out."_

"_C'mon, Eliot. I trust you."_

"_Great, man. I don't. I'm sorry. I'm not gonna do it." Eliot vehemently shook his head and raised his hands in mock surrender._

"_Eliot…" The older man stared down the younger, much like he would an unruly child. Eliot caught his gaze and held it for a minute or two. The only sound through the room was the echoes from the next one over where Parker was destroying things._

_Finally, Eliot huffed and changed his stance. He pulled back his fist and still waivered back and forth. Nate couldn't help but brace himself for the soon-to-be painful hit and closed his eyes. Eliot shuffled his stance a few more times, but still no hit. Cautiously, he opened his eye to see Eliot drop his fist and shake his head. Nate opened the other eye and shrugged. He couldn't blame him, as they looked at each other. "Makeup," they both said at the same time. Nate pressed his earbud, "Sophie, I need your help."_

_

* * *

_

"What happened?" the cartel leader asked Eliot. The Hitter opened his mouth to answer him, but Nate beat him first.

"What happened," the Mastermind yelled to where the two men were, "is the same group 'a thugs who've been terrorizin' my shop for months, come back this mornin', broke all my stuff, an' one 'a tha bigger ones gave me this." He removed the ice pack from his face to show Espinosa.

"_Dio mio_," the cartel leader swore again.

"Yeah, I know," Nate said, standing up, "Jack, here, said he had someone who could help me with this little problem."

"Perhaps we can work out an arrangement," the young man carefully navigated his was to the counter.

Nate held out his hand and the two men shook. "Tom Baker."

"Javier Espinosa."

"Coul'n't be. Ah heard he was in jail an' about ta be deported."

"As for as your government is concerned, I am. And that is the way that I want it to remain." Espinosa left the unsaid threat hanging in the air.

Nate pretended to mull over the thought, and then nodded. "Agreed," he said, "Now let's talk about what we can do to make this," gesturing to the mess around them, "stop happenin'."

* * *

_Now that everyone's introduced, we can get on to the party! Sorry again, that things took so long. Don't forget to use that awesome little button at the bottom…. Yup… Riiiiiight… There…_


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** YES! Finally! A new chapter to Juarez. I am letting you know right off the bat, this chapter sucks, but I don't know what more I can get from it. I'm sorry. This is the only thing holding up this story. I have everything after outlined out, so they should write themselves, essentially (so yes, the next chapters should start coming in rapid succession again). I have the goal of finishing this, adding another chapter to _Scenes from a Couch,_ having a whole 'nother story that I have planned completely written and posted, and "The Wisconsin Job" that has been eluded to in this story at least started before season 4 starts in 56 days. Wish me luck. I have many surprises in store for you guys, so I pray that you all forgive a craptastic chapter.

* * *

The meeting between the cartel leader and the shop owner had gone extremely well, and with that celebratory mood, Espinosa had invited Eliot, Parker, and Nate back to his compound across the border in Juarez. Nate had politely declined, saying something to the effect about needing to clean up the shop and going home to a beer and his "little woman". However, Espinosa wouldn't take the same excuse from Eliot and Parker.

"Ever been to a drug dealer's party?" Parker asked Eliot, later that night, as the two stood outside the motel that they were dropped off at the previous day.

"We're not talking about this, Parker," Eliot sighed and slid his hands into his pants pockets.

"So you have," she looked over at him in amazement, "When? Where? What happened? Was it nice?"

"Parker," he growled the warning at her.

"I just want to know," she pouted.

"_Me too,"_ Hardison's voice came over the com.

The Hitter sighed and rolled his eyes to the sky. "I'm not at liberty to discuss this with you. Now get off the subject."

Thankfully, the Escalade pulled up in front of them. Hector got out of the passenger side and opened the door behind his. "_Buenos noches, gringo_," he said, "thought you'd like to sit someplace with seat belts this time." Eliot gave a small laugh and he and Parker walked over to the SUV. Before they could get in, Hector pulled two black cloths out of his pocket. Eliot looked skeptically at the thug and placed himself between Parker and the bodyguard. "Sorry, _gringo_," the large man said, "_Jefe_ says you need to wear these, until we feel we have complete trust in you." Every ounce of training that Eliot had gone through was telling him "hell no." He had survived several torture sessions that blindfolding was just one of the many sensory deprivations used. Brief flashes of those events went through his mind, and he forcefully put them out. One of the last memories that conjured up was the regrettable evening one of his lovers had discovered this aversion.

Parker noticed this hesitation and touched his bicep to bring him back to the present. Eliot nodded, however he couldn't help from tensing up as Hector blindfolded them. They were led to the car and assisted inside. Seat belts on, Hector returned to his seat, and they were on their way. On the radio, a _tejano _singer belted out a song. Hector and the driver conversed back and forth in Spanish, and occasionally something was asked to Parker, who also replied in Spanish. Eliot just sat in silence, blocking out the noise and mapping out their travel. He knew that Hardison also was mapping them through the GPS units in their phones, but, again, his training took over to the point of it being an instant reaction.

They could hear the party going on when they pulled up to the house. Eliot heard Hector and the driver get out and then their doors were opened. A hand was placed around his bicep and he had to fight very hard not to hit back as he was assisted out of the vehicle. The blindfold was removed and, though the lighting was soft from the miscellaneous yard lights around him, it was a little blinding from the complete darkness that he had been in. Blinking a couple times, they adjusted to see Hector escorting Parker from the other side. "Now," Hector said, clapping the Hitter on the shoulder, "we party. _Vamanos_."

The two Hispanic gentlemen lead the way around the house and into the massive back yard where people milled around the pool, drinking, dancing, and dining. At the far end of the pool, a stage was set up and a band was playing an upbeat tune. Along the side of the house, a bar and buffet was barely noticeable through the throng of people around it. The lounge chairs surrounding the rest of the patio were filled with people and while the noise wasn't truly deafening, it was elevated in order for people to be heard above the man on stage rapping out a stanza. A few very beautiful women played some sort of tossing/volleyball game in the pool.

"_Gringo!"_ a familiar voice, yelled above the crowd. Eliot saw the cartel leader making his way to them, a beer in hand. "Welcome, _gringo_," Espinosa said as the two men shook hands, "Have a beer, eat, dance, find a woman. Pick whatever order you wish to do those in…" Eliot could tell that the alcohol had been pouring for quite some time, and the cartel leader had partaken a large amount of it. "_Blanca_," Espinosa had turned his attention to Parker, "You look _muy bonita._" He took her hand and gracefully spun her around. She smiled and laughed nervously.

"_No stabbing, Parker,"_ Nate's cautious voice came through the com.

"Mind if I have a dance with the lovely lady?" Espinosa asked, turning back to Eliot.

"Be my guest," Eliot said. He looked over at Parker and inclined his head, silently sending her the message that he wouldn't be far behind if she needed him. She still looked terrified as Espinosa wrapped her arm around his and walked her over to the end by the stage.

Eliot watched them go and propped himself against one of the archway walls to the house. He was out of the way and pretty well hidden from most people's view, but he had full view of everyone else. "How's the cam?" he said under his breath.

"_Workin' just fine, Bro_," Hardison answered, "_Ya got a good spot_." Unbeknownst to Eliot, Hardison had three laptops hooked together, recording the feed, taking snapshots, and running facial recognition software. Due to the size of the party, Hardison wasn't taking any chances with just one computer running and had divided the workload up.

"Are you lurking, _gringo_?" a sultry voice purred slightly behind him.

Eliot smirked and turned around to face the bodyguard. "It's what I do, darlin'." If he thought Lola was stunning yesterday in the morning, there was not a degree of beauty that could adequately describe her as lantern lights flickered across her skin and hair. She wore a black bikini top and a red sarong tied at her hips. He knew that her arms were muscular, but looking over the six pack abs and taught legs, she was no slouch when it came to exercise. A diamond navel ring sparkled with every breath she took. On her hip, a red rose encircling a dagger discreetly poked out above the sarong knot.

"_Daaaaaaaaammmmnnn_," Hardison commented.

"_Cerveza_?" she smiled, handing Eliot a bottle of beer. He graciously accepted and propped himself against the pillar again, only this time facing Lola. "Was _blanca_ unable to come?" she inquired, sipping her own beer.

"She's here," Eliot nodded towards the dance floor. "Yer boy toy insisted on bein' the first to dance with her." Eliot thought he saw her flinch at the description of Espinosa. However, she casually changed her stance and gave a small laugh.

"That's Javier," she sipped the beer, again, "He's quite the charmer."

"That don' bother you?" Eliot raised an eyebrow at her and smirked. He was fully aware that he could be skating on thin ice by blatantly flirting with a cartel leader's girlfriend.

She smiled and slightly blushed. "Not really," she admitted.

"What about you and _blanca_?" Lola asked, "You two been together long?"

"Wha…?" he was startled out of his reverie, "No. No. It's not like that between me and Alice. She's just a friend. Annoying as hell, just like a little sister, but I can always count on her to have my back." He would love to know what her reaction was to that.

Parker was having a hard time overhearing the majority of the conversation due to Espinosa wanting to dance near the amplifiers. However, the music was starting to slow down as the band segued into a different song. She was able to hear the touching words Eliot had to say, and she smiled to herself.

"Aw," Lola purred and gently touched his arm, "_Pobre_, Jack. No one special in your life?"

He laughed. For such a simple question, he had many answers to use. "Every woman is special, Lola."

She threw back her head in a massive laugh, diamond navel ring shaking in the light. "I see Javier isn't the only charmer."

"_Oh, I just threw up in my mouth a little_," Hardison's running commentary continued through the earbud.

"What?" Eliot shrugged, "While it may be true I don' have _one_ woman to come home to, it don' mean my nights are borin'."

"Ahhhh, I see," she laughed, "Javier, isn't the only Cassanova in town. May have to tell him he has a little competition and should watch out."

"Nah," he shook his head and drew his attention to Espinosa and Parker returning from the dance floor, "I'm not inta' stealin' anyone's territory."

Before Lola could respond, Espinosa called out to them above the crowd's din, "_Gringo_, you have one fine woman." Parker stiffly joined Eliot's side, still a little wide eyed over what had just all happened.

"Yessir."

"I must apologize for stealing your lady from you right off the bat, _gringo_. Go on and have some fun," Espinosa took the beer from Eliot's hand and gestured to the dance floor, "I am going to borrow my Lolita for a few minutes."

Eliot didn't have much say in the discussion as Lola gently put a hand on his back and, laughing, pushed him towards the music. Only he was close enough to hear the "Oh, for crying out loud" that Parker sighed under her breath.

They made their way through the throngs of people and back to the dance floor. Up on stage, the heavily tattooed man up on stage turned over the mic to a petite Latin woman and the band started up a slow number. Eliot smirked at Parker as he gently took her hand and placed his other in the middle of her back. Slowly, they swayed in time to the number.

"_So, how's the party?"_ Nate's voice came through their coms.

"Oh, just great," Eliot replied, quietly.

"_Parker, what's the security like?"_

"This thing's a fortress," she answered, "He has Schwartzmen AL-145 motion sensors lining the driveway. At each corner of the yard, as well as interspersed throughout the bushes and trees, there are Kandito 750 security cameras…"

"_Oh, lawd,"_ Hardison rolled his eyes and sighed.

"_Wha- what's that?"_ Nate asked.

"_Kandito's are security cameras built in Japan that record in real time with regular scope, night vision, inferred, and heat source feeds as well as takes still photos every 30 seconds with an 18 megapixel built in still camera that can zoom from 18 to 300mm. We're screwed, man. Ain't nobody gittin' in that place." _Hardison went back to his typing and sorting the information he was gathering into various folders.

"_Okay,"_ Nate sighed, _"We won't be able to hit him at his home."_

"Ya think, man?" Eliot said sarcastically.

"_Well, just keep an eye on things… Have a good time… Get home safe… Curfew is at midnight…"_ Nate accented his statements with sips from the whiskey he was holding.

Eliot and Parker rolled their eyes at each other. Sophie and Hardison just shook their heads.

Parker and Eliot continued their dance and eventually made their way to the bar and food tables, while constantly surveying the people around.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

While Eliot and Parker retreated to the dance floor, Espinosa guided Lola back into the house. Along the way he greeted the random people milling about. They entered his personal study just off the living room and she went up to the bookcase and pulled the book _Don Juan de Marco_. That section of bookcase popped open and they both entered the security room located behind and closed the door. Two men sat in front of the wall that was entirely made up of security camera footage. "Carlos," Espinosa barked at the closest muscle, and continued in Spanish, "I need you to run scans on these people." He handed over his cell phone, he flipped between the two pictures that he had taken- one of the blonde woman he was dancing with. The one he knew only as "Alice". The other was of the long haired_ gringo_ talking with Lola. "I want to know who these two really are. I want to know where they come from, what their agenda is…

"In the meantime, we play along with their little game. They want to play, we'll play." Espinosa stood back with his arms crossed over his chest as Carlos started the facial recognition software. Lola rested an arm on Espinosa's shoulder and smiled.


	10. Chapter 10

It was the wee hours of the morning when Parker and Eliot returned to the hotel. Only Hardison remained awake, sorting the remaining dossiers into the files he had created. The Hacker's eyelids were heavy with sleep. His click-clacks on the keyboard were not the staccato they usually were. "Man," Hardison started, "this does not look promising." Parker gave only the briefest of nods before shuffling off to her room.

"It's Las Serpientes," Eliot answered, sitting down on the couch to untie his boots, "It's never that easy." Eliot placed his ear bud back in the case on the table. "What do we have?"

"It's easier to tell you who _don't_ have a criminal record, brah," Hardison answered.

Eliot only nodded, and then swung around to stretch out on the couch. The last of the files sorted, Hardison powered down the laptops. "Something doesn't feel right, Hardison," Eliot said, his arm draped over his eyes.

"Yeah," the Hacker agreed, stood, and stretched. "This is going too good."

"I wish I could pinpoint what."

"'Know what ya mean," Hardison turned to the bedroom door, "maybe we'll figure it out in the mornin'."

"Hopefully," Eliot yawned the word.

"'Night, brah," Hardison said before entering the next room.

"Later, Hardison." Eliot rolled to his side and succumbed to sleep.

00000ooooo00000

For the next couple of days that apprehensive feeling would just not leave Eliot alone. He narrowed that it was going to come from Espinosa, so he was on high alert whenever anyone from the group left the hotel.

The Texas weather seemed to match the Hitter's mood. Clouds choked out any minute bit of sunlight and monsoon rains often pelted the streets. When it wasn't raining, the humidity was almost thick enough to cut. The quintet of thieves grew short of each other's company in a hurry. At least Nate had the ability of escape to the little souvenir shop, that, for all points and purposes, he was the manager of for the time being. When a small, but explosive tiff broke out among the remaining members of the team of what to watch on the single television, it was decided that they needed a break. Parker and Sophie went to scope out opposite ends of the museum. Hardison went down to the jacuzzi. Eliot spent some time in the pitiful excuse the hotel had the audacity to call an exercise room. At least it had a treadmill. It kind of worked.

00000ooooo000000

"Nate" Eliot came busting into the bedroom the following morning, "We've got problems." Both Hardison and Nate flew back their covers and launched out of their beds to follow the Hitter to the common room. Parker and Sophie were already up, though they looked as though they had been woken in the same sudden fashion that Nate and Hardison had been. The Mastermind and Hacker took places on the couch next to Parker as she used the remote to raise the volume to the news segment just starting up.

"Our breaking news story this morning," the blonde new anchor began, "INS and U.S. Marshals conducted an extensive raid on a local restaurant and bar." The television flashed to a small adobe building that looked very familiar to Eliot and Parker.

"Officials say the search took place shortly after 11 p.m. last night," the bald, male reporter took over, standing in front of the bar, "The joint operations convened on this property, Graciela's, after months of investigations concluded that it was being used as a hub of illicit activity, including drug and weapon smuggling as well as a sanctuary for illegal immigrants coming over the border from Mexico.

"Our research has concluded that this establishment is owned by none other than Javier Espinosa. Many of you may remember that Espinosa, supposed leader of La Serpiente cartel, was arrested last week in another action taken by the INS and U.S. Marshal's joint efforts at one of his other properties. His deportation hearing, we are informed, is going on this very minute…."

"WHAT?" Sophie and Hardison yelled, and quickly scrambled to their respective rooms to change their clothes. Much of the reporter's words were drown out by the ensuing chaos that the Grifter and Hacker made.

"Um," Nate began, "You two didn't know this?"

"No!" Sophie yelled.

"His hearing wasn't supposed to be until this afternoon!" Hardison also yelled, "I checked the docket last night!" The two of them hurriedly dressed and raced out of the room, grabbing briefcases and ear buds as they ran.

Eliot's cell phone started ringing. He looked down at the caller I.D. and then looked up at Nate. "Espinosa," was all he said. Nate grabbed the remote and turned off the television.

"Yeah," the Hitter answered.

"_Gringo_," the cartel leader greeted, "how's the hangover?"

"No sign of it."

"_Bueno, bueno…"_

"Saw Graciela's was hit last night."

"Yeah," the cartel leader's voice grew colder, "We had a little heads up that it was in the works, and we were able to move most of the products, but they still got some of the goods. Oh, well. We'll make up the revenue in no time and the kid will get pinned with it all. This leads me to why I'm callin', gringo."

"Oh?"

"I was able to get the kid's hearing bumped up to an earlier time. We should be hearing anytime now when he's going to be coming back to Juarez."

"A'ight…"

"We're going to take him out on the way. I was short handed before, and now, after last night, I'm even more shorthanded. I need all the help I can get."

"Why not leave the kid?"

"He knows things, _gringo_. He's been to my home. He's been to my businesses. I don't want to run the risk of him spilling my secrets. No one leaves my service voluntarily."

Eliot had the realization that walking away from this was not going to be an easy fete. "When's this goin' down?"

"Don't know yet, _gringo_. Keep your phone on. When I know, I'll send Hector for you. I'll let you know the plan when you get here."

"A'ight." Eliot flipped the phone shut and looked to Nate. "We've got even more problems."

"He's gonna take a hit on the kid."

"Yeah."

"We knew that was going to be a possibility."

"Espinosa's also got a person on the inside of the courts. He got the kid's hearing bumped up this mornin'. Man, we are way over our freakin' heads."

"Not yet. We still have a few hands to play, Eliot." Nate held up a hand to calm the Hitter down.

"No, Nate. We don't. As soon as he finds out when the deportation is goin' down, he's gonna call and I gotta meet his man. The whole reason he's gonna kill this kid is because he's seen things at Espinosa's. He didn't say so directly, but he implied that the same thing could happen to me and Parker if we don' cow tow to his demands. We're gonna have to fight- correction- _I'm_ gonna have to fight to git us outta here, Nate. And this is deep."

"Eliot. There are still a few steps that need to be taken. We can manage this. Just be a little patient."

Eliot snorted and shook his head. Stuffing the phone in his pocket, he turned to the door. "Eliot," Parker peeped up from her spot on the couch, "where are you going?"

"For a walk," he growled. He slammed the door and walked to the elevator. Thinking better of it, he turned to the side and took the stairs instead.

About halfway down, he stopped at the landing and looked up to make sure that neither Nate nor Parker had followed him. He took out his phone and pressed the preset speed dial number. He listened to two ring tones before the person on the other end. "Benito Gomez, director de Policia Federal de Mexico," the man at the other end answered.

"Benito," Eliot said.

"Spencer!" the man exclaimed and continued in Spanish, "Great to hear from you! How is your nephew?"

"Growing like a weed," Eliot answered, also in Spanish, "Wants to be a fireman now."

"Great. Great. Well, Spencer, I know you don't call for small talk. What can I do for you?"

"I need your help. The crew I'm in, we've gotten into a little bit of a situation. At least I feel that we have, and my leader doesn't seem to think so."

"I've heard rumors of this little crew you've joined, Spencer. Interesting to say the least. What's this problem."

"We're up against Javier Espinosa."

There was silence on the other end of the phone and then, "Espinosa's big problems for this little band you have, Spencer. You're right, you do have a situation. We both know that the real Espinosa is not the one your government has in custody. I cannot elaborate too much on this. Everything is depending on when this kid who has assumed Espinosa's identity get's deported. All I can say is that we already have a man on the inside of the cartel and they are close to him. We can handle that much."

"Who?"

"I cannot tell you that, Spencer. All I can say is play along with whatever you are doing for him, and guard your crew. When things are going to go down, they will go down fast and hard."

"You know what he's planning."

"Ye… Spencer, I want to talk about it, but I can't. This is top secret mission number one right now. Watch your team, and watch yourself. If you've got this cover of being with his cartel, and things go south, I cannot guarantee that I can get it sorted."

Eliot sighed. Today he was just not going to get the answers he wanted. "Understood, sir."

"Sit tight, Spencer. I'm sure that between the two of us, we can get things taken care of with minimal casualties."

"All right. We'll talk to you later then, Benito."

"Talk to you later, Spencer. Take care of that nephew."

"Will do." Eliot hung up the phone and sat for a few more minutes on the steps, mulling things over in his head. He eventually stood and started back up the stairs to the hotel room to wait out Espinosa.

A few paces from the room, the cartel leader called again. "The kid is being moved in two days at 11:30 p.m. The governments have been made aware of the possibility that an ambush may occur on the way, so they are going to let things settle down a before moving him. Hector will pick you up at noon at your hotel."

* * *

_Only 4 more chapters left! Again, thank you so much, everyone, for the reads and the feedback so far!_


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: We're in the final stretch! Only three more chapters after this one! Think I can get them written in 7 days? Hmmmm….. we'll have to see!**

* * *

"Good morning, Eliot," Nate greeted cautiously, noting the Hitter's pensive face and arms crossed over his chest.

"I want Sophie and Parker to move the family to a safe location," Eliot continued to stare out the hotel window, his voice monotone and dangerous in and of itself.

"Easier said than done," Nate crossed the room to the coffee pot and poured a cup, "the kids are in school and the mother is wheelchair bound."

"It's just temporary, Nate. We put 'em up in a hotel across town or even in the next one. It keeps them, and Parker, safe from Las Serpientes for a couple of days, or until we know what's goin' on."

"You're not taking Parker with you?" Nate took a sip of his coffee.

"No," Eliot turned away from the window, "I can't protect her an' me from a drug cartel. It's bad enough I'm gonna have the rest of y'all and the kid to watch."

"And Sophie?"

"'Would like her to be with Parker. Its nuthin' against the two of them. I just want to minimalize the casualty list…" Eliot continued to open and close his mouth a couple times, clearly battling whether or not to say the next part. "… and I want two of our team able to get them all further to safety in case…" He let the rest of his statement trail off. Nate understood what the "in case" scenario implied. He took another sip of his coffee.

"What will you tell Espinosa about Parker?"

"Dunno. I'll figure somethin' out."

"All right. We'll get them on it." Eliot's shoulders relaxed a little. "You wake up Sophie and Parker. I'll give the client a call and have her get things ready."

00000ooooo00000

Espinosa glared at the files that Carlos had tossed on his desk. "You're sure about this?" the cartel leader thumbed through the information. Lola walked over behind his chair and read over his shoulder.

"Sir, with the quality of these ID's, these _gringos_ have either paid out the ass or have one amazing, gifted friend," the security guard answered. "I had to do some serious sidestepping in order to not trip any of the security traps they had set up for alerts on the aliases."

Espinosa reached the last page of the girl's short file. "Parker?" he raised an eyebrow and looked at Carlos. The man just shrugged and shook his head. "Is this a first name or a last name?"

"No idea," the guard answered. "That was all that I could find on this girl."

"A thief… Interesting. Could have been a good addition to the crew. Pity."

"I think you'll find the man's profile more interesting, _el jefe_."

Espinosa turned his attention to the massive file containing information of the man who identified himself as "Jack". When he got to the man's true identity, his eyes widened. "Eliot Spencer? I've heard of this man. He is dangerous."

"Specialties in krav maga, jujitsu, and improvised weapon," Lola whistled, "United States' military black ops training? This man is downright lethal."

"Just mean we need to strike hard, first. He doesn't know we know who he is, which gives us the upper hand," Espinosa leaned back in his chair, placed the file in his lap and grabbed his cell phone. He punched in the numbers and listened to the ringing before the man answered. "_Gringo_!" Espinosa greeted, cheerily, "I'm sending Hector to your hotel in an hour for you and _blanca_…" He paused for the man's response. _"… lo siento, gringo_. Give her my condolences. But you will still be able to come? _Si_? … _Excelente_! See you in an hour or so." The cartel leader snapped the phone shut.

"_Blanca_ not coming?" Lola caressed his shoulder.

"She supposedly has a death in the family," he smirked, "No matter. She really will have one soon enough."

"What's the plan, _el jefe_?" Carlos answered.

"We bring him here. We'll let him in on the plan, and then I let him know his identity is up. Place him in the dungeon. Rough him up, just don't shoot him. We need him in somewhat fighting condition. Tomorrow night, we'll put him in the middle of the little coup. Whether it be us, one of the governments, or one of the other cartels, he'll be taken care of."

"And _blanca_?" Lola asked.

"His body will be her message." He flipped a page to the dossier. "Interesting. Remind me to call Moreau when _gringo_ is dead to let him know I took care of his light work."

00000ooooo00000

Eliot was not surprised that Hector still required that he be blindfolded when they drove to Espinosa's compound. After viewing it on the satellite map Hardison showed him, he knew exactly the route they were taking and could visualize the entire trip in his head. He knew when the road would turn to asphalt and he could hear the air differential as they passed a small plateau. Hector had kept their conversation light throughout the car ride.

Soon, the sounds of people milling about and a small fountain on the left side of the car could be heard, and he knew they were pulling up to the house. His door opened and a small arm grabbed his bicep. "Welcome, _gringo_," Lola's purr sounded by his ear as she helped him out of the Cadillac. He smiled and she removed the blindfold. Her black hair was wound in a deliberately messy chignon at the base of her neck. The lace and green sundress fluttered gently in the breeze. A smirk of knowing crossed her face when he looked back up into her eyes.

"Lola," he greeted quietly, "beautiful as always. Espinosa know what a lucky man he is?"

"I make it a point to remind him frequently and often."

He bit his tongue at the retort he wanted to make that a real man would already know and make it a point to remind _her_ that he knew. He did not wish to completely screw things up the night before such an important event. "Javier is in his office," she smiled and turned, "_Vaconmigo_." She motioned for him to follow, which he dutifully did and restrained himself from watching her backside as it sauntered in front of him.

00000ooooo00000

"Nate," Hardison called out, "Eliot's com just disappeared."

"We knew that might happen," the Mastermind answered, looking over the Hacker's shoulder to the map on the computer screen, "Do we still have a bead on his cellphone?"

Hardison click clacked on some keys. "Oh, man," Hardison frowned, "No. That has no ping either."

"We won't get worried just yet. Espinosa has a good security system. We'll get him back." Hardison sighed at the screen, fingers gently drumming the keys.

00000ooooo00000

"_Gringo!"_ Espinosa warmly greeted from behind his desk. "Welcome back. You're just in time for the master plan." Eliot nodded his head toward the cartel leader and made note of the men sitting or standing around the room. Seven total, all of approximately the same height and size. Several wore distinctive tattoos on arms or necks. He recognized one as the other bodyguard from the first day, he and Parker met Espinosa, a black cigarillo dangled from his lips. He was aware that Hector still stood behind him, though slightly to his right. Lola continued through the middle of the room and perched herself on the corner of Espinosa's desk, facing the motley crew of thugs. Seeing that all the seats of the room were occupied, Eliot simply relaxed his stance and tucked his thumbs into his pockets.

Espinosa laid out the route that the U.S government was set to take to the rendezvous point and meet with the Mexican government. The plan was to intersect them at the halfway point with a diversion in the middle of the road that would make the convoy stop, and they would open fire upon the vehicles. "What about the other cartels?" one of the thugs asked.

"According to our spies in our main oppositions, they have roughly the same plan- to take the fleet out at the midway point," Espinosa answered.

Eliot soaked in every detail of the plan and strategized any points that Nate's part would play, He would figure out a way to relay that information to the Mastermind. He hadn't heard anything from Nate or Hardison, and the slight buzzing in his ear gave him the impression that his com was currently being jammed. At least Nate knew when the kid was being moved and could follow that, until he could get a clear signal out in the open.

"_Gringo_," Espinosa drew his attention, "You know how to fire a gun?"

"I don't like guns," the Hitter replied.

"No problem," the cartel leader replied, "You'll be the one to light the diversion. We'll provide you with cover so the other cartels don't take you out in the meantime." Eliot nodded.

"I think that about covers it," Espinosa raised his hands, "You'll all stay here for the night so you can prep. There is plenty of food, beer, and beds." A few of the muscle snickered and laughed amongst themselves. Eliot snickered himself and looked to the floor.

"I think you are going to be an integral part of this plan, _Señor_ Spencer," Espinosa sneered.

Eliot's head shot up of the mention of his real name, just as a massively solid punch from Hector's meaty hand landed at the base of his neck. One of the closer thugs landed another heavy punch to his solar plexus, knocking all the air out of his lungs. Yet another, this time to his left, kicked his bad knee and it instantly gave out on him, pain ricocheting throughout his leg. Hector grasped both of Eliot's arms and pulled them back, almost ripping them out of their sockets. His chest muscles seared at being extended beyond their limits. A few more punches landed across his ribs, stomach and his face as Hector's force pulled him to the ground and Eliot's other leg shot through with pain as his kneecap drove into the hard tile. The click-clacking of high heels made him aware that Lola was walking up to him. A fist roughly grabbed his hair and pulled his head back. He looked up into her dark brown eyes that were almost looked black with fury. "We don't take kindly to liars, _gringo_," her voice was harsh and bitter. She let go of his hair and, with such sudden force, her knee connected with his jaw and his world went black.

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**I even ended with some Eliot-whumpage for you! And you probably thought I didn't love you. Anyway, please (I'm begging here) use the nifty little hotlink at the bottom for that special event called "feedback".**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: I have firm belief that I WILL be able to get this done before/on Sunday. I only have a battle scene and wrap up to write! Oh, and I have to remember to throw in a surprise or two in there for you, too. **

**Thank you again for all the reviews and encouragement for this story. It's taken on a life I never thought it would. **

* * *

Hardison glowered at the pacing man before him. "Nate, it has been _six hours_ since we heard from Eliot." The Hacker kept switching from screen to screen, watching for the ping from either their teammate's cell phone or his com.

"I know, Hardison," Nate replied, "There's nothing to be worried about yet."

"_'Nothing to be worried about yet'_?" Hardison was shocked at Nate's relative composure over the whole ordeal. "Man, we haven't heard diddly from him! We let Eliot walk into a drug cartel's headquarters without any protection- without any backup. We might as well jest stuck an apple in his mouth an' served him up on a silver platter."

Nate took a deep breath. He sat down on the couch and looked the other man directly in the eyes. "The only person who could have been his backup was Parker and Eliot made it vehemently clear he did not want her anywhere near Espinosa. It was the best way to protect _her_." Hardison relaxed a little, as Nate continued, "You've said it yourself, Espinosa has a security system many powerful countries would be jealous of. Perhaps he has some sort of jammer to protect against unwanted eavesdropping, especially so close to the deportation.

"Right now, all we can do is sit tight the next twenty-nine hours and trust that the most dangerous member of our team can, somehow, retrieve himself." Nate gave a brief smile of encouragement to the Hacker, hoping that one of the two of them might believe what he all just said.

**00000ooooo00000**

A slap across the face brought Eliot around again. How many times had he been knocked out now? Four? Five? It was important he keep count. He blinked a few times to focus and clear the cobwebs out of his head. The shackles bolted to the floor that held his arms at either side had just short enough chains that Eliot couldn't sit up straight in the chair without pulling his sore shoulders out of socket. His spine was warm with pain and stiffness. But all the discomfort was dull in comparison to his swollen knees.

He was distinctly aware someone was sitting in the chair across from him.

Lola sat with her arms folded across her chest; her red nails tapped her upper arm. One leg was crossed over the other and bobbed in the air. To be blunt, she looked pissed off. He snickered. "Is something funny, _gringo_?" she scowled.

"I was wondering what it would be like to wake up next to you," he laughed. There was a metallic taste in his mouth and his tongue was slightly swollen from where he bit it during one of the interrogations by Hector. Or was it the man with the cigarillo?

Her backhand was stunningly swift, it was practically supernatural. "My bad," he said, adjusting his jaw.

"Why are you here?" she settled back in her chair. He sighed and said nothing. "What is a man like you doing here, Eliot Spencer? The Black Ops go-to boy? Retrieval Specialist? Muscle? Hit man?" He looked up at her. "What are you doing in Juarez?" Again he didn't answer, and now it was her turn to laugh. "Ever the good military man. 'When in enemy camp, remain silent.' Isn't that what they teach you?" She uncrossed her legs, hooked her feet under the bottom rung of Eliot's chair, and swiftly pulled it.

Eliot didn't think the chair would move period, let alone with such speed and force. The sudden movement wracked his shoulders. Flames of pain shot up his back. His head bounced off the concrete floor and stars danced in front of his eyes. Once the initial pain subsided, he actually felt a little better to finally be in a different position. At least he could move his shoulders and straighten his back. "_Gringo_, I'm losing patience with you," Lola's head appeared above him. "Who sent you? What do you want?"

"I came on my own," Eliot tasted blood again. He must have bit his tongue when he hit his head.

"It's not nice to lie to a good lookin' woman," she stood up and pulled out a cell phone, "I guess we'll just have to see what your messages have to say." He knew there would be nothing for her to find. He had deleted anything connected to their mission earlier. He looked up at her and thought he saw her brow give the faint hint of a furrow, but it quickly disappeared. She looked down at him, "It's really disappointing, _gringo_. I really liked you."

She turned and walked out of the tiny room, locking the door behind her. The lightbulb turned out leaving him in utter darkness. He listened to her heels grow fainter and yet another door lock before he couldn't hear anything anymore.

_"Eliot, man,"_ Hardison's voice came through the com, miraculously still hidden in his ear, _"are you there?"_

"Yeah, man," he answered quietly, "I'm here."

**00000ooooo00000**

"Nate!" Hardison yelled, "Nate, his com and cell phone are back!" Hardison scrambled to get the computer off his lap and reach the case on the coffee table that held the earbuds.

Nate came storming out of the bedroom, cell phone to his ear. "We just got him back online," he was saying to someone, "Hold on a minute."

Hardison shoved the small piece of plastic into his ear and handed the box off to his team leader. "Eliot, man," he said frantically, "are you there?

"_Yeah, man,"_ came the soft reply, _"I'm here."_

"Thank gawd," Hardison rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair.

"Where are you?" Nate asked, putting in his com and ending the call with whomever he was talking to.

_"I think somewhere in the basement,"_ Eliot said, _"Don't wanna talk too loud in case the place is bugged."_ Something clanked in the background. The sound of wood on concrete resounded not only through the room Eliot was in, but over the com as well.

"What was that?" Nate asked.

_"Chair,"_ Eliot sighed, _"Much better. My cover was blown an' I've been chained to that chair for hours."_

"Do they know about Parker?" Nate inquired, catching the look from Hardison.

_"I'm sure they know __**of**__ her. Just not where she's at."_

"Good. Good."

_"How long do we have until we git the kid?"_

"About twenty- eight hours now," Hardison answered. An exhausted chain of swears came over the com.

_"Hey, now,"_ Sophie's voice now came through the com, _"Watch your language."_

_"Sorry, Soph,"_ Eliot sighed, _"I'm tired. I'm in pain. And I want a vacation. Nate, I got one word for ya: fishing." _

"We'll discuss it later," Nate sidestepped the issue for the time being, "What's his plan, Eliot?" The Hitter relayed as quickly and quietly as possible what the cartel leader had planned.

_"Somehow I think I'm still gonna be a big part of this diversion."_

"Most likely," Nate resumed that his pacing from earlier, "Hardison, pull me up the route that the Marshals are going to take from El Paso to Chihuahua. That's where they're going to meet up with the Mexican Federal Police and make the transfer of prisoner."

"On it," Hardison started typing away.

_"Someone's coming,"_ Eliot gritted quietly. They all heard the door connect with the chair and it skidded across the concrete as it was moved out of the way. There was some mumbling and the door closed again.

"Eliot?" Nate inquired, "What's happening?"

_"I was given a sandwich and a bottle of water,"_ he answered. Nate resumed his pacing.

"Got it," Hardison called out. The Mastermind went over and looked over his Hacker's shoulder. "They're gonna take Carretera Federal 45 all the way down." Hardison continued scrolling down.

"There," Nate jabbed at the computer screen, "There's the bluff that Espinosa is going to use." Hardison zoomed the satellite in to get a detailed look. "Yeah, that's going to be perfect. How long of a drive there?"

"'Bout two, two and a half hours," Hardison answered.

"Okay," Nate smiled and went to the mini-bar to pour himself a drink.

"Wha? O… Okay?" Hardison was shocked again, "That's it?"

"For now?" Nate sat down on the couch, drink in hand, "Yes."

_"Damn it, Nate,"_ Eliot grumbled through a mouthful of sandwich.

_"Chew your food before talking, Sparky,"_ Parker's voice came in next.

_"Fine,"_ Eliot growled, then clearer, _"Damn it, Nate."_

"We'll get you out of there, but it won't be until after the diversion."

_"Do you need us there?"_ Sophie asked.

_"No."_ Eliot's response was forceful and final.

"Eliot's right. Stay with the family."

_"Fine,"_ Sophie didn't sound convinced.

For the next few minutes, there was com silence. Hardison clacked the computer keys. Nate swirled his drink before taking another swig. It was Parker who broke the silence. _"So how's the sandwich, Sparky?"_

_"It's a piece of cheese slapped between two slices of bread. Not exactly a four course meal, Parker." _

_"At least it's something,"_ she chirped.

Eliot snickered. _"Yeah. At least it's something."_

**00000ooooo00000**

As grateful as he was to be able to hear his team again, Eliot was tired of the running commentary that was now going on several hours. They continued to hash out plans to tomorrow night's coup while he remained silent. There was nothing he could do except be the bait to set this whole thing off. Every once in a while, Sophie, Hardison, or Parker would ask how he was doing, or if everything was okay. At least he wasn't completely ignored.

He needed a new position. From sitting mostly cross legged on the hard floor, his rear was killing him and now his knees felt like watermelons. He stretched out on the floor and caught the chair with his foot to bring it closer to him. The movement was incredibly painful and it wasn't until Sophie said something did he realize he was holding his breath. _"Eliot? Is something wrong?"_ she inquired, silencing the discussion between Hardison and Nate.

"Nothin'," he grunted, propping his feet up on the chair seat, "Just need to stretch out." He sighed, folded his hands over his chest, and closed his eyes. He had no intention of sleeping, but did need a few minutes to unwind from the stress of last couple of days, before the really hard part of their operation began.

**00000ooooo00000**

_"Nate,"_ Sophie crooned through the com, _"just let him sleep."_

"Who's sleeping?" Eliot asked.

_"You were,"_ Sophie snickered.

"No, I wasn't."

_"Sure, brah,"_ Hardison laughed, _"there was someone next to ya snorin'."_

"I don't snore."

_"You do when you come down after a hard job,"_ Parker perked up, _"I've seen you do it after that one in Nebraska and that crap we dealt with Sterling and Nate going to jail for us."_

"I don't snore!"

_"Uh-huh…"_

_"Sure…"_

_"Whatever, brah…" _

**00000ooooo00000**

For the next twenty four hours, the events of the Hitter in the cell, the Mastermind and Hacker at the hotel room, and the Thief and Grifter at the mystery location were uneventful. A random conversation would take place occasionally, but for the most part, every one remained quiet to conserve the energy for that night.

Three and a half hours before the U.S Marshals were scheduled to transport Pablo, Nate came across the coms, "Hardison and I are on our way to the rendezvous point. Soph, Parker, stay put. Eliot, see you there." Eliot had resumed a tranquil position on the floor and started to mentally prepare for his fight out.

He didn't need to wait too long, for a little while later, the sound of the door unlocking brought him out of his reverie. He glared up at the man dressed in the white suit and cowboy hat. Espinosa had a malevolent grin plastered on his face. _"Gringo,"_ he opened his arms in greeting, "ready to assist us take out my innocent twin?" Behind him, Lola glared over the cartel leader's shoulders at Eliot, and behind her, Hector looked ready to beat any thought of escape out of him.

"Nah. Thought it was rather cozy in here, though gotta say the furniture could use some work," Eliot taunted, raising an arm to let a chain dangle. The smile faded from Espinosa's face and stepped aside for Hector to enter the room.

The beefy bodyguard kicked the wooden chair into a corner and grabbed Eliot's arm roughly. He unlocked the chain around the Hitter's wrist. Lola also entered the room and unlocked the chain around Eliot's other arm. Both grabbed a firm hold to him and drug him to his feet. Lola grasped both of his arms using a zip tie to fasten his hands behind him. Espinosa walked up to Eliot and went face to face with the dangerous man. _"Gringo,"_ he taunted, "tonight you will regret that you ever walked into my city. You'll regret you ever got this far into my organization. You'll regret that you ever betrayed me."

"Espinosa," Eliot looked him dead in the eyes, "if you know half as much about me as I think you do, you should know you are standing far too close." Both men stared at each other with such hatred and contempt.

"_Vamanos_," Espinosa barked, backing up and out of the room.

They paraded him through the hallway and through the living room. Throughout, a random cluster of thugs would stop cleaning guns, weighing drugs, counting money, or drinking to stare at Eliot. He looked at none, but the cartel leader's back. He was marched outside to the waiting Cadillac, where the cigarillo gangster sat in the driver's seat waiting. A few other cars and trucks dotted the driveway, miscellaneous men milled around them. Suddenly Espinosa suddenly turned. "Oh," he started, "and one more thing, _Gringo_." The cartel leader threw a wickedly powerful upper cut and Eliot's world, once more, went black.

**00000ooooo00000**

When Eliot awoke, he found himself in the backseat of a different SUV. He looked at the upholstery and saw the tears and stains all over the seat and floorboards. From the metallic scent he had a firm guess as to what the dark brownish discolorations were. A cool breeze ruffled his hair. He noticed that all the windows had been broken out. His hands were still zip tied behind him, and as he sat up and took notice of his surroundings, he started to strain to break them. The SUV was parked sideways in the middle of the road, and in the distance he could see the small line of vehicles heading straight for him. They kept getting closer and closer, and he still was having a hard time breaking the tie.

When the cars were less than a mile away, he heard a sharp whistle behind him. He turned to see two flaming bottles flying into the busted out back window and ignite the back storage area.

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**Oh, yes I am leaving it there. You're just going to have to wait for the next chapter to see how this all plays out. At least you shouldn't have to wait too long for that to happen. In the meantime, I strongly recommend the use of the "Review This Chapter" hotlink. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Yeah, it's big. There's A LOT of heavy action. I blame the fact I had a REALLY bad day at work and I listened to the entire works of Disturbed while writing this. But I hope you enjoy regardless.**

**Also, huge thank you to saides for helping me fix my Spanish!**

* * *

_When the cars were less than a mile away, he heard a sharp whistle behind him. He turned to see two flaming bottles flying into the busted out back window and ignite the back storage area._

* * *

The cargo area exploded in flames giving Eliot the impression there was some sort of accelerant poured in the back to assist ignite the car. Even with the broken windows, thick black smoke filled the interior. It burned his eyes and choked his lungs. Through a few wisps of smoke, he could see the convoy of vehicles slowing down as they approached the burning one he was sitting in. Suddenly, over the crackling of the flames, he heard the rat-a-tat of multiple gunfire echoing between the two high rise bluffs they were bottlenecked in.

Eliot abandoned trying to break the zip tie and turned his attention to the getting out of the vehicle. The door facing the convoy was stuck shut, but the one on the driver's side opened with a couple swift kicks and he tumbled to the asphalt. Finally in the open wind, he coughed to clear his lungs. He half crawled away from the burning SUV, and looking back, saw that he had gotten out just in time as the flames started to disintegrate the back seat. Away from the car, he gave one massive strain to break the tie. His shoulders, chest, and arms burned with the tension. With a loud yell that was mercifully drown out by the gunfire and flames, the tie gave way and his arms were free. Quickly his patted his hair, arms, and back to make sure that any flames on him were extinguished, seeing as they had become so close while his was in the vehicle.

He saw one of the trucks from Espinosa's driveway off a ways to his left. The driver and passenger currently were engaged in shooting up the train of United States government vehicles stopped on the road. Eliot circled around and they were so engrossed in their mission, they did not expect a man to come up behind. He slammed both of their heads against the truck, knocking one out instantly, while the other, in delirium, turned to face Eliot. His nose bled profusely and he slowly started to bring his gun around. Eliot gave a quick jab to the man's face again, snapping his head back, which made him shoot a few rounds into the air. Eliot grabbed the barrel of the gun and pulled it away without resistance. One punch to the solar plexus, and another to the jaw knocked the thug out. He removed the clips and dislodged the rounds in the chambers from both guns before tossing all the items in various directions.

From behind the truck, Eliot crouched to survey the scene before him. By now the flames had engulfed the entire vehicle and it sank as the heat melted the tires. The blaze lit up the two bluffs where he counted between ten to fifteen flashes from different guns in clusters of two or three on the side were the government vehicles were stopped. On his side, just off of the side of northbound Carretera Federal 45, he counted another fifteen to twenty individual marks. At the base of the buff, he could make out the familiar silver Cadillac parked at an angle behind some tall brush. One person fired a handgun over the hood of the SUV, and two more had the driver's and the driver's rear passenger doors open and, standing on the running board, were firing over the roof of the Escalade. The one standing in the driver's doorway emptied the last of the clip and as they ducked down to reload, dark hair cascaded over their shoulder.

He turned his attention back to the government cars to see how they were fairing. The three SUV's and one towncar had dents and paint missing, but Eliot was partially relieved to see that the Marshals had used armored vehicles to transport the fake Espinosa. Pablo was most likely in the towncar at the back or in the second SUV. Unfortunately, the towncar and the last SUV had flat tires. By now the call had most likely gone out that the convoy was under fire. That left him with approximately an hour to an hour and a half before help from either direction arrived.

"NATE!" Eliot yelled over the com. Between the gunfire and the flames, it was difficult to hear.

"_WE'RE HERE, ELIOT!" _came the yell back.

"STAY BACK! ESPINOSA IS ON THE NORTHBOUND 45 SIDE. I'LL CALL YOU WHEN I'M READY FOR YOU!"

Just at that moment, the flaming SUV exploded. There was a brief cease fire as people ducked down from the burning shrapnel that was flinging in all directions. When Eliot looked back up, he noticed the first SUV now had a huge piece of metal sticking out of the engine block. White steam cascaded over the hood. It obviously wasn't going to be going anywhere soon.

The gunfire resumed, but Eliot noticed that it most of it no longer was aimed at the deportation convoy. He looked up at the muzzle flashes and saw the bluffs were now firing at each other. Apparently the cartels had figured that in addition to eliminating their chief competition, they would also attempt at taking each other out as well. He had to get to Espinosa contained now, before he was killed, and their plan went out the window.

As Eliot started to make his way to where the Cadillac was parked, the wind carried the sound of sirens from behind him. He looked back, and in the distance, the strobe lights from multiple police cars lit up the horizon. He looked back to the north to see that even more police lights flashed from the United States side coming to assist. They must have known something was about to take place on the way and Eliot now had to move quicker than usual.

He circled around behind the bluff, keeping low to the ground and used the brush for cover to avoid being seen from those up top. Slowly creeping over the start of the rise, he wound up right behind the cartel leader and the other three individuals alongside him. "Zip ties?" Eliot yelled, his eyes wide with fury, "Seriously?" Espinosa whipped around, shocked that someone came up behind him.

Espinosa swore as Eliot planted his large boot into his stomach. He fell back into the car, but caught himself on the doorframe. The shooter at the hood of the Cadillac ended up being the thug always with the cigarillo, changing out his clip. Out of the corner of Eliot's eye, he saw Hector, who had been firing around the tail end of the SUV bringing his gun around to him. He caught the larger man's wrist and twisted it away from him, just as Hector pulled the trigger. Lola, originally firing above the driver's seat, just barely jumped back out of the way with enough time. The bullet shot into the front tire and it started hissing as it deflated. Eliot jabbed his elbow into Hector's face once, twice, three times, before snapping the man's gun arm up, rounding a kick to his right knee, dropping him down. He pulled the gun out of his hand and driving the butt of it down over the bodyguard's eyebrow. The man passed out with a grunt and dropped to the ground. Eliot dropped the magazine out of the gun, popped the bullet out of this chamber and tossed the gun away.

Lola and Eliot snapped facing each other; his fists in front of him, gun raised in her hand. They looked at each other briefly, and her eyes softened for a moment. Eliot noticed Espinosa pulling himself out of the car out of his peripheral vision. Lola nodded at him and turned, pointing her gun at Cigarillo. Eliot turned his attention to Espinosa and struck a punch before the other man could raise his own firearm again. Blood seeped from a cut in his lip when he pulled his fist back. He punched again, while reaching across with his other arm to grab Espinosa's gun arm and pulling it over to turn him around. Once he had his back to him, the Hitter put the smaller man in a choke hold. As he felt Espinosa loosing consciousness, he slammed the cartel leader's head against the door jam, knocking him out. "Nate," Eliot pushed his com further in his ear, "Espinosa's out. Get ready."

He looked back at Lola and the Cigarillo thug, still struggling to hold each other's guns away. She gave him a swift knee to the groin, and he let go of her gun, doubling over in pain. She tossed a look over her shoulder at Eliot and gave him a brief smirk. When she looked back at the thug on the ground, she noticed his upturned gun too late when he fired. Her body went rigid and she fell back to the ground, her gun falling out of her hand. In a blur of motion, Eliot had dove passed her and drove a fist into Cigarillo's face, feeling bone crack beneath his knuckles. The gun dropped and he kicked it away. Quickly he spun around to Lola, but he knew it was too late: her eyes were open, staring up into the night sky, a bullet hole open wide in her chest.

Putting aside the loss momentarily, Eliot looked back to the convoy. The second SUV had started to make its way around the still burning wreckage of the vehicle he had been in when several well placed shots took out the tires. They still were trying to drive away, however, when the Mexican police rolled up, with several military vehicles intermixed. From those he saw small objects with trails of white smoke being thrown into the middle of the bluffs. "NATE!" he yelled, "FLASH BANG GRENADES AND SMOKE GRENADES!" He had just enough time to warn his teammates before they went off. More smoke grenades were thrown and the two bluffs were engulfed in a white haze. It started to smart his eyes, and once more, he coughed to clear his lungs. More sirens arrived from the other side and through the clouds he could make out flashing lights from the strobes and the flames.

A gruff hand grabbed his arm and when Eliot looked up, he saw an imposing figure in SWAT gear above him. The man removed his face shield and knelt down to his level. "And here I am," Hardison started, "havin' to come save _your_ happy ass this time."

"Damn it, Hardison," Eliot growled, "Now's not the time." He saw that another SWAT figure was slightly behind him and alongside, a young kid held onto his arm. The fog was starting to clear out and in the background and whirlwind of Spanish and English commands were being yelled out.

"We gotta move fast," the other SWAT member lifted his shield to reveal Nate holding on to the kid. The three of them worked fast to get the handcuffs and bulletproof vest off the kid and onto the still unconscious Espinosa. "Eliot, get Pablo out of here. The car is on the other side of the bluff, pointed back towards Juarez." Nate and Hardison lifted Espinosa and started dragging him to the front of the Cadillac, where they set him back down.

Eliot started guiding the kid around the bluff, but not without one last look back to Lola's body, her red dress bright in the smoke. He looked back to Pablo and urged him forward. "If anything happens," he said, "you keep runnin' to that car, duck down, an' Nate an' Hardison will git you outta here. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," Pablo answered.

"HEY!" Nate's voice rang out, "I think we got him over here!"

Eliot was just about around the buff when a bright light was trained on him. _"ALTO!"_ a booming voice commanded, "STOP!"

When he noticed the kid had also stopped, Eliot growled at him in a low voice, "GIT OUTTA HERE!" Eliot raised his hands. Two men grabbed his arms, and kicks to the back of his knees put him to the ground. He realized now how painful they still were, when he cried out from the jolting pain. His wrists were put in actual handcuffs and the two officers brought him to a waiting ambulance, where he was sat on the gurney, which the handcuffs were then unlocked from behind him and then to the side rails. The two men left without a word and closed the doors behind them.

**00000ooooo00000**

"HEY!" Nate called out, "I think we found him." He and Hardison stood guard beside Espinosa. A wind picked up and started to carry the smoke from the grenades away and five uniformed men started to run to them. Three of them were United States Marshals and another two had the uniforms that read _"Policia Federal de Mexico_" on their jackets.

On the ground, Espinosa groaned as he started to come around. "_Que?"_ he awoke with a start when he realized the officers around him. He quickly tried to get up, but he settled down when holsters for guns started to unsnap.

"Let's make sure it's him," a large, blonde male officer said, pulling out a large device. He grabbed Espinosa's hand. The officer placed one of the cartel leader's fingers against the white screen, which scanned and flashed green. A beep signaled the information was relayed. "It's him," the officer said, showing the Mexican official, "Javier Espinosa."

"What?" Espinosa's eyes grew wide with fear and panic, "How did you- ?"

**00000ooooo00000**

_"All right, Hardison," Nate said, putting down the ice pack and pulling the latex contusion off his forehead, "he's gone. Come get his prints." _

_The Hacker ran down the street to the little souvenir shop. "He put his whole hand down there," Nate pointed to a section of counter top, next to the register. Hardison pulled out a dusting kit and swished the feather light brush, dropping a white powder to reveal Espinosa's entire left hand. He took out a sheet of film from the bag that he brought, placed it over the print, and lifted it up, transferring the print to the sticky sheet. Hardison raised the sheet up to the light, studying it to make sure he had gotten every detail he needed. He looked over to Nate, a big grin plastered across his face._

_**00oo00**_

_Parker was getting really tired of dancing. Her feet hurt. The music was loud. Espinosa was dru- OOooo was that a __Kandito 320 security camera in that tree? Wait… Okay, we're grooving. Grooving. Turn. Turn. Wait… NO! That's a 750! And there's another. And another. And one more. Oh crap. Combined with the Schwartzmen's out front, this is __**not**__ a good place to break into. "_Blanca_," Espinosa smiled, blatantly staring at her chest, "How about we go on back to Lola and _Gringo_. It's a slow song. Give you a chance to dance with him." _

_"Okay," she smiled, "Oh, let me get that for you." She grabbed his empty beer bottle and pretended to throw it in one of the trash containers near the bar, but quickly she slipped it into her purse and grabbed a new beer off the counter, handing it to him._

_"_Gracias, Blanca_," he winked at her._

_"It's my pleasure," she answered in Spanish._

_**00oo00**_

_Hardison had spent five hours hacking the booking information of the INS detention facility where Pablo was being held and finally met with success in pulling up the kid's 10 card. On one half of his screen the fingerprint sheet was displayed under the innocent man's picture. He looked terrified, his eyes bloodshot, no doubt from crying over being falsely accused. Poor kid. But it was all going to work out. That's what his team did. _

_Next to him, his travel scanner whirred as it finished it's project. The other half of Hardison's computer screen opened a new window and the fingerprints that he had just finished scanning showed up. With a few clicks, Pablo's fingerprints and those of Espinosa's swapped places and Pablo's suddenly disappeared. Hardison popped open a new program and opened a picture of Espinosa. It was a head on shot, a smug smile on his face. With a computer paintbrush, Hardison erased the yellow paint in the background of Espinosa's picture and matched it to the pale blue of Pablo's mug shot. He selected around the young kid's picture and it disappeared. From his Photoshop program, he pulled Espinosa's altered photo into the picture section and saved the file. His smile could light the room as he took a sip of orange soda and popped a gummy frog in his mouth._

_Over in the corner, the briefcase sat open. In it several packets of bills, adding up to one million dollars sat, banded together. It was the down payment Espinosa had made to Nate, for using the souvenir shop as a hub. That was money the cartel leader was never going to see again. And it was money that was going to go a long way in the Lopez family._

**00000ooooo0000**

"How did you-?" Espinosa was terrified. He had never been booked before. It was the kid who had taken the fall. How did they have his prints?

The two Mexican officials pulled him to his feet and he looked back to the black man in the SWAT uniform. As he was being led away, Hardison saluted him, "Geek power, baby," he said, "Stay strong."

**00000ooooo00000**

Eliot had no idea why he was placed in an ambulance of all things. Benito had warned that if he went down in this, he couldn't guarantee that he would be able to sort it all out. Eliot sighed and leaned his head back. At least the kid was safe, Espinosa was now on his way to jail, and the rest of the crew could go home. He'd get there eventually.

The side door to the ambulance opened up and a hooded Policia Federal entered, closing the door behind them. They sat down on the bench seat and let down the hood. Long, black hair cascaded over the shoulders. _"Hola, Gringo,_" her sweet voice purred.

He sat staring at her, incredulous. He thought he was seeing a ghost. An incredibly gorgeous ghost. "How? Wha-?"

"No smart ass come back, _Gringo_? You disappoint me," Lola leaned back against the side of the ambulance and crossed her legs.

"You died."

"Lola died. My mission in this organization was done, and there is only one way out of Las Serpientes cartel."

"In a body bag," Eliot nodded.

"I didn't know who you were until I saw my uncle's phone number in your cell phone."

He laughed. "Benito, is your uncle… Jeez." He shook his head in disbelief.

"It was me who put the zip ties on you instead of handcuffs. He told me you could handle it."

"And you're great death scene, what was all that about?"

"Before we left I put blanks in all of Javier's, Luis', and Hector's guns and clips." She reached into her jacket and pulled out a small white and red packet and held it up to him. He laughed again. "Pop cap and ketchup."

"Great." He had been duped. It had been a long while, but finally someone had gotten the upper hand on him.

"_Lo siento, Gringo_, for having to put you through what I did."

" Hey, you had a job to do, babe. I know how that goes." He shrugged. The rattling against the rail reminded him: "By the way, you don't happen to have the keys for these, do you?" He raised an arm again, that was still handcuffed.

"No, I don't." The large doors at the back of the ambulance opened and an imposing figure entered. "But he does."

"Spencer, why do I always have to bail your hide out?"

"Benito, I can honestly say, this one wasn't my fault. There was this chick…"

"Spencer, with you there's always a _mamacita_…" Benito leaned over and unlocked both handcuffs and Eliot rubbed his wrists. "I see you've met my niece. Now, don't get any ideas, _Gringo._ I know you." He then turned to Lola and shook a finger at her too and warned in Spanish, "And you neither,_ Chiquita_. You're not much better than him." Lola and Eliot looked over at each other, smirking, then looked back at the director. "We've got Espinosa in custody. My niece has provided the whereabouts of his compound, and that has already been raided. As far as we know, everything has been all put to bed."

"Good." Eliot nodded.

"She'll sneak you out, so you can get back to your team, Spencer."

"_Gracias."_

"_No hay problema._ _Gracias_ for helping us with capturing the real Espinosa." Benito went out the large doors and before closing them, poked his head back in. "You've got yourself a good team, Spencer."

"That I do, sir."

"_Adios,_ and job well done." He started to close the door, when he suddenly opened it again, "And no long goodbyes. Either of you!" With that he slammed the door. The two of them laughed.

"Well, _Gringo_, let's get you out of here." She smiled and pulled up her hood. She lead him out the side door and they made a roundabout way to get to the bluff where everything went down. She looked up to him and smiled. "This is it. Good job, _Gringo."_

"And you." He smirked. Even with the dirt and a few smudges of ketchup on her chin, she was still hot as hell. "Any chance I can get your real name?"

She laughed. "You're gonna have to earn that one."

He laughed. "So what do I call you then?"

"For now, Lola."

"And how can I get a hold of you?"

She smiled and shook her head, then stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Contact my uncle. He can get a hold of me." He just sighed and shook his head. "_Adios, Gringo,"_

"_Adios_." She rubbed his arm and then started trotting away. He watched her go. As if she felt eyes still staring at her, she turned around, "Go ice those knees, _Gringo!"_ He raised a hand to waive and started towards the other side of the bluff.

"And by the way, you do, too, snore."

**00000oooo00000**

"Are you done flirting now?" Nate asked Eliot as he walked up to the car. Pablo sat on the hood, chin in his hands. Hardison looked miffed.

"Yeah. What's wrong? Why aren't you ready to go?" Nate stepped away from the car so Eliot could see the lines of bullet holes that had torn through the engine block and tires. He swore.

Headlights came closer and closer, when suddenly the large vehicle drove turned off the southbound lane, drove across the gravel, turned right up next to them, and stopped, pointing north. The passenger window rolled down and Parker sat there grinning. Sophie sat in the driver's seat. "Eliot, what have I told you about swearing?" she scolded.

"What did I tell you about staying with the family?" Nate countered. Sophie shook her head and waived him off. "Well, c'mon then. Unless the four of you would like to walk back to El Paso."

* * *

**The surprise was prob****a****bly a little obvious, but I can only hope that I got at least a couple of you with it. Let me know what you think…. One last chapter to go….**


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: It's finally here: the last chapter. It's been a crazy ride and the story has taken on a life that I didn't particularly intend, but sometimes that happens. Thank you to all who have read, reviewed, and helped edit along the way. You're support has been wonderful and greatly appreciated. **

**So without further adieu…**

Sophie stopped by their hotel to drop off Eliot, Parker, and Hardison first before she and Nate continued on to the Lopez family safehouse. When she parked, she looked back in the rearview mirror to the young man whose life her team just saved. "You're home, Pablo," she smiled.

He looked to her, small pools of unshed tears in his eyes. "Yes, ma'am," he croaked out, "Thank you so much. I could never repay all of the kindness you've shown me. No one else would have given half a look."

Nate turned around from the passenger seat. "You're a good kid, Pablo," he said, "We know you only got into this to support your family. But it was the wrong way."

Pablo sighed and nodded. "I know… My family must hate me."

"They don't hate you," Sophie answered, "They love you very much and that's why they contacted us. They wanted you back, safe and sound."

"Thank you." The events of the past week were obviously still weighing heavily on his mind, and despite Sophie's and Nate's encouragement, he still sat forlorn.

"Here," Nate handed him a card, "I talked with the owner when I left. Her name's Miss Josie and she's a wonderful elderly woman. She just needs a young kid to stock shelves, run errands, and watch the store when she's gone. She expects to see you Monday morning at seven sharp and she says to put on your running shoes. After some kids broke almost all the stuff in her shop, there's still a lot of cleaning up to do." Sophie smirked and shot a sideways glance at the Mastermind.

Pablo's eyes brighten and a small smile crossed his face. "Thank you, sir!"

"I spoke glowing words about you," Nate cautioned, "Live up to them and keep your nose clean. You'll do just fine."

Sophie dug a clasp envelope out of the center console and also handed it to him. "Here is some information to a few of the community colleges around town. Perhaps while working, you can take some evening classes and finish that degree of yours."

"I don't know what to say… Thank you so much." The tears were still threatening to spill, but they had turned from tears of regret to tears of joy.

"Let's get you back to your family," Sophie winked and unbuckled her seatbelt.

The three of them got out of the car and Sophie gently knocked on the motel room door. "Eva? Eva, its Sophie Devereaux. Open up." The door swung open wide and the young woman stood, panic etched on her face.

"Did you get him? Is he okay?" she searched the Grifter's and Mastermind's faces for answers.

"See for yourself," Sophie stepped aside to reveal Pablo standing behind her. If he had any lingering doubts if his family was mad at him, the erased as his sister practically flew out of the room to embrace her brother, tears streaming down her face. Her words were gibberish, but the impression of gratitude needed no words to be understood.

An older woman wheeled herself to the threshold. Her face was marred by scars and a couple burns, but her eyes shone in the dark light when she saw her son. "Mr. Ford, Ms. Devereaux, I cannot thank you enough for bringing him back to us," she said.

"There's no need," Sophie accepted graciously, then gestured to the two siblings who still had not stopped hugging, "this is thanks enough."

Nate handed over a briefcase to her, "We were able to rescue a few funds for you and your family to help pay off some bills and get things started to normalcy at home."

"Thank you, so much," she accepted the briefcase and just laid it in her lap. Her attention was focused on her family, "And Espinosa? He cannot get us, correct?"

"No," Sophie replied, "He and his entire operation were arrested tonight. And they are all going to be locked up for a very long time."

"Thank you. Thank you again."

"Will you need any help in the morning to get everyone back home?" Nate asked.

"No, we'll be able to manage." Pablo had finally been able to release his sister's grasp and walked up to his mother. "My baby." She reached out her arms to embrace him tightly, tears rolled down her cheeks.

Nate caught Sophie's glance and nodded his head towards the car. She smiled and turned to it, patting Eva's arm along the way. "Thank you so much," the young woman said.

"No problem." Sophie and Nate got back in the car and left the reunited family to continue their celebration of the lost son's return.

**00000ooooo00000**

Hardison had gotten them all an early morning flight back to Boston. The crew stepped out of the hotel after a few hours of sleep into bright sunlight, a comfortable seventy-five degrees, with a southwesterly breeze. "After all this time of crappy weather," Parker began, "we have to leave in this?"

"Oh, don't worry," Hardison brushed past her on the way to the rental car, "it's pouring in Boston right now."

"Great," Eliot growled as he walked passed her on the other side. His knees weren't feeling all that bad, but there was a huge ache in his left shoulder. He placed his bag in the trunk and rotated the sore joint around a couple times to alleviate the stiffness.

"C'mon, Parker," Nate grabbed the last few bags and placed them in the trunk, "We've got a flight to catch and I want to get home before meeting with a client at six."

Eliot rolled his eyes and looked up to the sky, "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

"Guess not, Sparky," she crawled into the car and sat in the middle. The rest of the crew got in and the sedan pulled away from the curb, entering traffic to the airport.

**00000ooooo00000**

The elevator dinged and the team dispersed from the small, cramped cubical with their entire luggage. Three large boxes sat outside Nate's apartment, bringing questioning gazes from all but one member of the crew. "I ALMOST FORGOT!" Parker exclaimed.

"Did you ship something, Parker?" Nate asked as he eyed the containers while unlocking the door.

"Yep," she dropped her duffle bag, accidently onto Hardison's foot, and hugged the top box.

Nate let them all into the apartment, each one dumping their luggage on the floor. Sophie sauntered into the kitchen, while Eliot and Hardison went back out to help Parker carry in the boxes. "Holy crap, Parker," Hardison exclaimed, "I expected these things to be heavy."

"Me too," Eliot almost laughed, "I 'bout damn near launched this thing to the ceilin'."

The three carried their loads into the dining area and Nate jogged up the stairs to his room to freshen up and change before meeting their next client. He had just started to read over the file Hardison had put together on her- Lydia Salazar, single mother, book keeper for a small law firm…

"For cryin' out loud, Parker," Eliot growled from downstairs.

Nate glanced through the rest of the file quickly as he rushed down the stairs to go meet with her at McRory's. "Hardison," he said not looking up, "Get this ready when I come back." He tossed the file on their debriefing table. A flurry of bright colors got his attention, making him momentarily stop to look at the vast assortment of piñatas surrounding the kitchen table. Parker looked ecstatic as she pulled a donkey shaped one out of the box. Hardison smirked, booting up his laptop. In the kitchen, Nate could see the back of Eliot's head shaking as he scooped ice into a plastic bag. Sophie munched on a small cookie.

The crew was back to normal, and there was a client waiting for him downstairs. Shaking his head, Nate bustled out of the apartment and punched the button for the elevator to go down. As the door closed, he grasped his hands in front of him, a smile crossing his face.

*Cue End Credits*


End file.
